Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
by Gharst Omenlumin
Summary: With the Great Schism in full swing, Blue Team finds it is called away to an unknown world, where they'll meet old friends, and memories boil to the surface. But when a previously unknown enemy pursues them, they'll have to give it everything they've got to make it out alive. For if they don't, they, their comrades far away, and all of humanity, will be doomed, and Onyx will fall.
1. Chapter 1

**Greetings. Here, we will read what truly happened with Blue Team. I must admit, I initially had one hell of a writer's block, thinking with what I was supposed to Write here. in the end, I decided for this: Mostly, it's the same story, only a few minor changes when it comes to what the Spartans at Onyx do. In addition, this is one of few stories I'll write that has a large amount of Flash-backs, to various time periods.**

 **Also, as I read my stories, and compared it to both the books and other works of fiction on this site, I noticed my Spartans are more... talkative than usual. I decided to include an explanation in it: Conroy.**

 **Also, since the Elites are defecting to the Human's side en masse, they won't be the enemies. instead, it is a new one. one from shadow, and mystery... and ruin.**

 **as for all the additional Spartan's I'm naming, that's part of a set-up for one of my later stories.**

 **Per my usual advice, I suggest you read my previous stories in order to understand this**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **Request: I want reviews. I feed on them just as much as George R.R. Martin feeds on the broken souls of the characters he kills.**

* * *

Halo: Ghosts of Onyx

Chapter 1

Chiroptera Stealth Ship, En-route to Zeta Doradus system

Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey sighed, as she woke up.

They had been traveling inside that Chiroptera for barely a day, and yet, she had found not a single moment she could have properly rested. The Ship, due to a lack of maintenance over the years, had been falling apart around her, and she'd been busy during her entire stay aboard it to fix the small vessel up from the inside. She was, if she was honest with herself, surprised the inside was still pressurized at all.

She'd just finished ensuring that the small SlipSpace drive wouldn't overheat during their journey, when she'd fallen asleep from exhaustion. And now, she had just woken up.

She still needed to know what was going on there, on that planet near Zeta Doradus. She had read all files linked to it, including the S-III files, and she knew Spartans were trained there. But the Planet, while very close to UNSC space, wasn't on any regular charts. In fact, it seemed like ONI had tried to _erase_ it from the charts. And Halsey needed to know why.

She wouldn't risk hiding the Spartans there if there was anything dangerous about that planet.

She needed to hide them, not for themselves or the UNSC, but because she needed to save her own consciousness. As Conroy had warned her during the Augmentations of the Spartan-II's, she had needed to make plans in order to save her own mind. But, the fool that she'd been back then, she hadn't listened, and Conroy had disappeared shortly after the Program was completed. And now, she was without guidance.

She put that out of her mind for the moment. For all she knew, that spy from Graves could already have hijacked a ship, and be on her tail right now. She was blind at the moment, as her Sensor were inoperable during Slipspace. And she didn't know what she would find once she arrived at Onyx.

She made her way back to the Cockpit. Kelly would be waking up soon, and she would want an explanation as to why she was drugged and kidnapped, for all intends and purposes.

As Halsey arrived, she could see the Spartan was still asleep. Halsey, to reassure her once the Spartan woke up, had placed her shotgun and Assault Rifle on her lap, and removed the restraints she'd initially used when the Spartan was moved, to avoid her tumbling away in the zero-gravity of the ship.

Halsey grabbed a chip she'd put in a drawer on the Chiroptera.

Kalmiya.

She would be pissed as hell that she was moved without her knowledge or consent. But Halsey would need the both of them in the upcoming days, as John would need Cortana on that Covenant Space station. She inserted the chip into the slot at the back of Kelly's helmet. They would come out of Slipspace soon, and Kalmiya would be able to help accelerate the Spartan's awakening. As she waited, she thought back to her conversation with the young Conroy that day.

* * *

 _HIGHCOM Training Facility, Reach, 02-03-2525_

 _Halsey was reading the report Admiral Jeromi had made about the upcoming Augmentations next week, that had been forwarded by Deja, when someone knocked on the door to her office._

" _Come in." she said, as she put the report away._

 _It was Doctor Lee van Conroy, her fellow researcher, and, alongside her and Mendez, one of the leading people in the Spartan-II Program._

 _While Halsey had seen to the biological changes in the children as they would grow, in preparation for the Augmentations, and Mendez had seen to the training of the future Spartans, Conroy was the one involved in all psychological matters. He had been the one to oversee the kind of material the Spartans would read, and he was to shape the way how the Spartans thought. And so far, despite the fact they were loyal, and were willingly committing to the Spartan Program and the UNSC, she had… doubts about him._

 _Oh, she didn't doubt his competence. Asa matter of fact, he was the very best in his field. But every time the Spartans weren't training, she could see they were socializing a lot. More than she would expect of Child soldiers, and certainly more than ONI would like. Codename: ACTUARIAN had made that very clear. And yet, despite Conroy's insistences, they hadn't stopped socializing. Rather, they had even increased their amount of talking and spending time together, with only a few exceptions. And even these were more friendly than they should be._

 _When confronting Conroy about it, the doctor had insisted that, while Cold-blooded Soldiers were efficient, they had no idea why they were fighting, or who they were fighting for. He had insisted that the Spartans needed a cause, and so, he encouraged that they should for friendships, so that they would fight for_ eachother _. But, as Halsey looked back upon it now, she thought he did it for more than that. Likely to save his own consciousness. Making the Spartans a bit more human, so he wouldn't feel as guilty in his old days._

 _Of course, the fact that Spartan 017, or David, as his friends called him, had shot the ACTUARIAN only six month before in anger hadn't helped his case. But, only a week ago, Conroy had finally convinced Parangosky to let David out of the Brig, because they would need all leader figures in the Spartan ranks they could get. And David, alongside John, Fred, Jerome, Kurt, Margaret, Jai, Jack and Cassy, was one of those figures. He had never seemed to regret that decision._

 _And, as he walked into her office, she could see he didn't regret it now._

" _Doctor." He said respectfully. "I realize that I don't really see Eye-to-eye with you. But have you considered the legacy you will leave behind?"_

" _Come again?" Halsey asked, confused._

" _Think about it." Conroy persisted. "The Spartans see you as their mother, for all intends and purposes. But The rest of the galaxy out there doesn't see it that way. They'll see you as a child kidnapper. A Frankenstein. Not the monster, by the way, but the doctor. You operate on them. And with the risks of the Augmentations… you know as well as I do over half of them won't walk out of that. They'll hate you."_

 _He grabbed a Rubik's cube that stood on her desk, solving it in less than half a minute as he talked. Halsey silently cursed the young man. She had been busy for days trying to solve it, and he did it in under a minute._

" _Which brings me back to my point." He said, as he put it down, solved. "What will you do to change that image? What will you do to show you still have some humanity left?" he asked, and he raised his glasses a bit._

 _Halsey looked at the man. "I don't need saving. ONI cares too much about my research to open me up to the public like that."_

" _We all are expendable, Doctor." Conroy retorted. "It's just a matter of when ONI is prepared to actually cut us lose. Besides, all Secrets will come out. Especially the nasty ones."_

 _He turned to leave. "I see now that you are too delusional with your own importance to plan ahead for stuff like this. Still, if the roof starts collapsing around you,_ don't _claim I didn't warn you."_

 _And with that, he left, closing the door behind himself._

 _Halsey sighed. She had found him very annoying, since he was, like her, a child prodigy. But, while she had reached her maximum potential, going through all the studies and fields she could, he had just wasted time socializing with the Spartans. Like he wanted them to be human._

 _She huffed. As much as she joined him in wishing they could be so, she realized that would never happen. They were too indoctrinated now to try and reach out for what was rightfully theirs._

 _She went back to reading that report._

* * *

She hit herself on the head. _Oh, Conroy, if you'd just hit me on the back of my head, and made me listen, this wouldn't have happened._

During the course of the war, too many people had died for her, and _because_ of her. Noble Team, Isaac and Vinh, Li, Anton, Solomon, Arthur, Sheila… the list, as usual, went on. It had slowly made her realize that Conroy was right, and that she should think about her own consciousness. Ok, he had worded it more in the terms of how people would think of her, but the acts of making both more positive were the same.

She looked up, as Kelly finally moved. She immediately, as soon as she became coherent, grabbed her weapons, and aimed around with a service pistol Halsey hadn't seen earlier.

"Doctor." Kelly said, as she lowered her weapon upon seeing the doctor. "Where are we headed?" Halsey noted that Kelly was ignoring the fact, for the moment, that she had taken him away from John and the others. Halsey grabbed her data pad.

"A Planet in the Zeta Doradus system, one that ONI has ignored for a very long time, despite its habitability. In examining the S-III files with Kalmiya, as she likely informed you, I began to suspect they were being trained there. And I'm going to get them."

Kelly nodded. "Good. We'll need all the reinforcements we can-"

"Not just for John and Earth, Kelly." Halsey interrupted. "ONI has ignored it for too long for it to be a mere training ground for the Spartans. Otherwise you would be trained there as well. No, there's something else there. And I need you and Kalmiya to find out what."

Kelly nodded, satisfied with that answer for the moment. "Any idea what it could be?"

"Beyond my suspicion it is Forerunner, I have no idea, to be honest. The files didn't elaborate enough for me to create a theory as to what it is."

Kelly nodded. "Alright."

Halsey grabbed her datapad. "One more thing: During my examination of the map, I came across this acronym. You tell me what you think it is."

Halsey selected the right map, and held the title clear for Kelly to see.

 _Map to Zeta Doradus, sent to CPOMZ_

Kelly leaned forward in interest. "So that's where Mendez has likely been off to. Interesting."

Halsey nodded. She then turned to the navigational display. "We'll soon be coming out of Slipspace, in orbit over the planet. No matter our landing, however, this ship was in a shoddy state of disrepair when I found her, and I took her before Tends to Rise or his buddies could look at it. We won't be able to take off again once we touch the ground."

Kelly grabbed her arm rests, as she sat down again. "I've faced worse odds. Let's do it."

Halsey nodded, and after a moment, she pushed the right sequence to get them out of Slipspace. As soon as they did, however, multiple alarms went off… too many to attribute to the state of the ship.

"Multiple contacts, unknown hostiles." Kalmiya reported from her place in Kelly's helmet. "Their design, upon visual, appears forerunner, but is different from that of the Sentinels and Enforcers John and Blue Team encountered on Halo."

Halsey looked at Kelly. "You are a more capable pilot than I am. Try your best to get us on the planet, preferably in this sector." She showed Kelly the area she suspected the training grounds for the Threes would be in.

Kelly nodded, and she grabbed Kalmiya's chip, and inserted her into the controls. "This is where the fun begins." Kelly said, as she maneuvered the ship in more directions, and at sharper angles and turns than Halsey suspected she ship was meant to make.

After a moment, as the blood rushed to her head from all the maneuvers, she lost consciousness.

* * *

Kelly smirked, as she maneuvered the ship around. While she wasn't particularly skilled at flying, and in no way superior to what she heard Six could do, she enjoyed flying: the freedom of it all, to move and fly as you wish. It exhilarated her.

Of course, at the moment, she couldn't due to the fact these drones were still firing on her. She turned to Kalmiya's avatar, who was sitting cross-legged, like she was merely meditating.

"Kalmiya, does this ship have a Head's Up Display in the view screen of the Cockpit?"

Understanding what Kelly wanted, a course that would take her to the desired Sector appeared in front of her. Kelly smiled. "Thanks."

Kalmiya nodded, and merely continued sitting cross-legged, as she adjusted the output of the engines enough to Kelly's needs, powering down the left engine, and putting more in the right, as Kelly steered the maneuvering fins so she would go left, effectively making sure Kelly got at her destination faster.

After a moment, they were past the firing of the large swarm of Sentinels, and making their way into the atmosphere of the planet. The hull heated up with the friction, and Kelly had more and more trouble keeping the ship in a controlled descent.

After a minute of tough flying, Kelly managed to level out, just as they broke through the clouds.

Satisfied they were out of immediate danger, she pulled up the status of the ship.

Halsey was right: the Ship had already been a wreck to start with, and Kelly's flying and entering the atmosphere hadn't improved it one bit: Landing gear's gone, Com and sensor are now down, Engine 1 was overheating, and two was already gone, the Slipspace Drive was melting from how hot it had gotten, and she even noticed there was a minor Hull breach. It fortunately wasn't in their sealed compartment, but she had to be careful, or it would become bigger by the minute.

She noticed they were arriving at the needed sector, and she maneuvered the ship so it landed on a soft patch of dirt, so the jolt at landing wouldn't hurt the doctor.

Kelly shut down the engines, and let the ship glide to the spot where she wanted to land, with Kalmiya lending a hand, so to speak.

After a moment, she felt they were touching down, and Kelly extended what was left of the landing gear to increase air resistance and slow them down. Kalmiya also extended all flaps and steering fins there were, and activated the maneuvering thrusters in reverse, so they were slowed down even further. After a moment, Kelly saw that they were coming up on a rock wall over a hundred meters high she hadn't noticed earlier, and they were coming up fast. They must have traveled faster and further than Kelly had expected they would.

She immediately yanked Kalmiya, picked up Halsey, her weapons and Halsey's datapad, and made for the starboard exit hatch she'd seen earlier. She kicked it open, put the Weapons on her back slots and thigh slot, put the datapad in a pouch on her armor, grabbed Halsey, and jumped.

She landed in a roll, though she ensured there was always something between the doctor and the ground, be it an arm or her back, as Halsey had no protective gear.

After a minute of rolling, they finally came to a stop. Kelly checked if the doctor was alright, and, satisfied she had no injuries beyond a few bruises, looked up.

The Chiroptera flew for a few more meters, before it slammed into the wall, and violently exploded. Multiple pieces flew everywhere, and once or twice, she had to dodge a larger piece, or catch it to prevent it hitting Halsey.

The majority of the ship, however, fell to the ground at the bottom of the wall into four different pieces: The wings, the bow and the stern.

"Another happy landing."Kalmiya said jollily. "Shall we pick up the doctor, and make our way towards where she suspected the S-III camp would be?"

Kelly nodded. "I'm sure you always wanted to meet the guy that made Six as crazy as she appeared."

Kalmiya chuckled. "I'd rather not. Who knows the others aren't as crazy?"

"Jun turned out okay?" Kelly pointed out.

"Fair enough." Kalmiya said, as she displayed a small map of the terrain at the lower right corner of Kelly's HUD. Kelly picked up the doctor, swung her over her shoulder, and brought up Oathsworn, her own customized Shotgun, which she'd painted as well. She then made her way into the woods, seeing there was no path visible going from the dirt patch.

She was traveling for about an hour, when the ground underneath her gave way. Kelly jumped back just in time to avoid falling in. she looked in.

And immediately jumped in. it seemed to be someone's underground stash of supplies.

As she landed, and put the doctor down, leaning against the side of the dirt wall, she looked around.

The place was very small. As a matter of fact, it was a small wonder Kelly hadn't hit her head yet. It was about 5 by 5 meters wide and long, and a small hole in a wall opposite her indicated where one would normally enter the room. The room itself was filled to the nock with supplies, although they were not orderly put away. MRE's lay strewn across the floor, First-Aid kits lay on the their sides and each other. It was too small for tall adults, but i-

 _Ideal for Spartan Trainees in their youth._

Kelly rummaged around in the two crates that were in the room. One contained nothing but empty packaging and other forms of thrash. Clearly, it was their garbage bin. The other, however, contained something interesting.

A datapad, and a pile of numerous Datchips.

She went through them, sorting them all. All had dates, and a number assigned to them, the number either being 170 or 312. She sorted them in neat rows on a blanket that lay on the floor, and, after fifteen minutes, she had sorted them all. Out of curiosity, she grabbed the earliest of the 312 pile, and put it in the datapad. The pad, however, was empty, so she pulled it out.

She then had an idea, and put it in the only other slot in her helmet. EVA Spartan Armor, by design, had two slots for data recording, as in Space there were more readings to register for missions, like radiation.

She put the log in the other one next to Kalmiya, and her HUD went black.

It immediately lit back up, with the same room as Kelly herself was now in in the background, showing a slightly pixelated young girl in front, about 12 years old, of brown, shoulder-length hair partly pulled back in a top-knot, with the rest just loose, covering her cheeks and the sides of her face. She had a few scars, likely resulting from fights, though they seemed like they were old. It was the eyes, however, that drew her attention. They were the oddest of colors for eyes Kelly had ever seen.

Her right was so light blue she could mistake it for ice. The other, her left was a fiery orange.

Kelly listened, as the woman talked about the S-III training.

* * *

 _This is Sierra B312, training here on Onyx. I have just completed a record of twelve medical procedures I practiced. And yes, B170, using a gutted avian imported from Demeter as a test subject counts._

" _Ah, come on."_ A male voice in the background groaned.

 _Yes, it counts. Anyway, I completed the tests, thereby passing the exam needed to become a combat surgeon. That puts my amount of unofficial certificates on Six: Combat Surgeon, Mechanic, Electrical Engineer, Combat Pilot for all aerial vehicles Ambrose and Mendez could offer, Close-quarter combatant and skilled Cook. Next stop: Teamwork._

" _Which you suck at."_ The voice from earlier retorted.

The woman sighed. _Premature end of Log 31, as B170 needs his ass handed to him._

" _Which you can't do right now. Ambrose will call the end of the exercise in three minutes, and it takes two and a half to get to the right positions."_

 _Dammit. Well, I'll need to end it anyway. B312 out._

* * *

Kelly pulled the chip out, and she put it down. She looked around at the rows. There were a total of sixty chips, thirty of each. These two trainees must have hid here during exercises when they finished early, so they could have some down-time on their own. But something bothered her. She knew she had seen that number, B312, before. But she didn't know where.

"Something bothering you?" Kalmiya asked. "Your Brain activity's a bit higher than usual."

"Just trying to figure out something." Kelly explained. "I know I've seen that tag, B312, before. But I don't know where."

Kalmiya was silent for a moment. Then, supplied by Kalmiya, an image played across her mind, from her short time on the Gettysburg.

Her, Linda and Six, listening to that music Six had gotten from an ODST, with Linda making a bit of fun at Six' Spartan tag.

B312

"Damn." Kelly said, amazed at the coincidence. "I just stumbled across Six' personal diary."

"At her training ground as well." Kalmiya added. "Still, the logs only go from 31 to 60. And the date only goes from years three and four. Which means there are likely two more cache's. and about sixty more logs."

Kelly nodded. "Then we have no time to waste. Halsey can go and search whatever she likes, but I want to find these logs, and see how our… _friend_ grew up."

"Ah, so she's a friend now?" Kalmiya teased. "Where only hours ago we called her crazy."

Kelly nodded. " as insane as she is, she saved my, and the others' lives, multiple times. And we get along very well. There's no reason, beyond the fact I only saw her for three days, that I can't call her one."

"Indeed." Kalmiya said, and she appeared instead of the HUD. "Still, you haven't answered the question from that Forerunner cave system yet, have you?"

"What Question?" Kelly asked, pretending not to know. She didn't want to think of him right now. Not that she didn't want to, but if she did, she knew she wouldn't get him out of her mind for hours. Hours she would be less attentive to her surroundings.

"I'll repeat it." Kalmiya said. "who's the future ms. Kelly? Your pulse and brain activity elevated in that central room when you saw Spartans rescuing you. I already crossed out the Admiral and the civilian, as you didn't know them well enough, and I don't see you as a lesbian. On that regard, Six, Linda and Grace can be crossed out as well. Also, you only saw the Elite upon that moment, and didn't seem to know him, so he can be crossed out as well. That leaves John, Sam and Anton."

Kalmiya smirked. "So, which of the three is it?"

Kelly sighed. "As long as you don't tell this to anyone. You're the first one I'm telling about this."

"Across my heart." Kalmiya promised. "Or, in lieu of one, my datacrystal."

Kelly nodded. "Fair enough." She then activated her blink control for a touchpad, ensured no other devices were around to pick it up, and typed John's name.

Kalmiya nodded. "What do you see in him? Not that it's bad, but I'm just curious."

Kelly had to think very hard about that. And for a long time as well. And, in the end, she didn't know for sure.

"I don't know." She said. "Could be because we know each other for so long, could be because we work so well together. I don't know."

"Fair enough." Kalmiya said. "As promised, I'll shut up about it in front of others. But I have to note this: I had a conversation with Cortana earlier."

 _Oh, please don't._ Kelly thought. _Don't tell me this now._

"And from what she overheard, John has taken a liking to you, too."

 _Aaaand there goes my concentration for the next few hours._

"I appreciate the thought. But keep the details for later. The Doc will be waking up soon, and it's dusk."

Kalmiya nodded. "Time to make a fire."

Kelly chuckled. It made her think back to one of their missions, back in training.

When Allison had still been alive.

* * *

 _Emerald Cove, 23-01-2520_

 _Kelly smiled, as Allison and Fred returned with a fresh supply of Clams. They were fresh out, and, since they spent the majority of the day surfing, and it turned out they didn't have enough clams to go round. Allison had volunteered to go out there gathering more, and it looked like she had found enough._

 _After all, she doubted they would be on short supply if they had four baskets full._

 _Allison put them down. She then moved off, likely to start a fire. She saw Linda smirk. Ever since they had given Allie the lighter they'd found, they had been unable to separate her from it. She was willing to do all that stuff for them, but never has it separated from her. Even after Jack had been stupid enough to try and take it._

 _After five minutes, Allison returned with torches, a large supply of wood, and the Jerrycan filled with oil they had stolen from Mendez, back when they'd also stolen the Air tanks._

 _Fred got up, and helped Allison put everything right for multiple Bonfires. After all, one wasn't enough for about seventy five children._

 _In the end, after all the fires were lit, however, most stayed by their own teams, despite the fact they can get along very well with each other._

 _Kelly saw, however, that Allison, Fred, Linda, Kurt, Jack and Malcolm were making their way to her, John and Sam. Sam looked up in the middle of eating a clam, and he smiled. "Ah, our favorite Pyromaniac! Come and join us, along with the next victims of molotov cocktails?"_

 _Allie smiled. "No, not victims. I'm getting lazy getting the necessary ingredients, and I need people to get it for me. Like you."_

 _Sam's look soured. Linda and Jack laughed, as they sat down with the group. Allison grabbed a clam of her own, and pried it open with the bottom of her torch, which they'd all sharpened in case Mendez's instructors found them. Even if they obeyed his orders, they wouldn't let themselves be taken without_ at least _a token show of resistance. And what better token than a sharpened torch?_

 _Malcolm smiled as he pulled out the pocket knife he'd taken from an instructor, and pried his own open. After they all ate something, Sam grabbed his improvised surfing board, basically a plank of wood, like all of their boards, and lay down on it. "As much as I like this vacation, I can't help but look forward to seeing the ACTUARIAN again. The look on his face will be priceless."_

" _Go over to Holetown and take a picture." Kelly joked, throwing the shells of her clamps at him. He caught them, and threw them back, missing due to her dodging it. John shook his head, looking at Kurt in mock-exhaustion. "See what I have to put up with?"_

 _Kurt chuckled. "You think these two are any easier? I constantly have to take away a new blowpipe from Linda because she always seems to find a new one. To even be silent about Fred's constant arguing about new decisions."_

 _Allison laughed. "You think any of the leaders have it easy?"_

" _No." Malcolm said, his mouth half-full with a clam. "But it is entertaining for the rest of us to watch you guys try to cope."_

 _There was more laughter. After a moment, saw a clamp land next to their fire. She, along with Jack, looked at where it came from._

 _Jai, along with the other members of Gray Team, were throwing Clams at each other, some filled with sand._

 _Jack sighed. "And I thought Allie and 'Colm were annoying."_

 _Kelly nodded, then went back to eating her own clam._

 _Then, one hit her lower back. She grabbed it, looked at Gray team, who didn't seem to have noticed, and contemplated throwing it back to annoy them._

 _But another team beat them to it. Black team, led by Margaret, started throwing all of their clams at Gray team, who were surprised and overwhelmed by the sudden assault. As soon as it stopped, however, they sat up again, and started throwing back. One of them, however, missed, hitting Jerome, who sat two fires away. He looked back, saw the two groups, and started throwing his own._

 _Soon, everyone started joining in, including David's group of odd balls, Clyde and Romero._

 _All except Green Team, Yellow Team and Blue Team, who were watching the exchange with amusement._

" _Shame we don't have recording equipment." Allison said. "Excellent blackmail if we want something from them later on."_

 _Malcolm nodded. "Yeah."_

" _Just watching is good enough for me." Jack said. "Still, part of me wants to join in."_

 _John just shrugged. "You are the oldest of us all. You decide what you do."_

" _Hey, don't use that on me." Jack defended. "You think I like being around people two years younger than me due to an administrative error?"_

" _No." Fred said. "But the man from Saxon is always older." he took on the typical Saxon accent, descended from old Scottish. "Oy, want want an ale?"_

 _the others all laughed. Then, Allison got up, as their fire was almost out, and she went to grab more wood. Linda went over to join them._

 _After a moment, Jack gave her a kick in the leg. "Go on, join the ladies. Us men can enjoy ourselves."_

 _Kelly laughed. "As long as I don't see you guys joining the foodfight." she said, before she got up and walked after them._

 _After a moment, she caught up. Allison looked back, and she smiled as Kelly caught up. "Come on. Time for us girls to make a_ real _fire."_

* * *

Kelly shook her head, to clear it. She could remember the past and the fallen later. Jack was missing, Kurt, Malcolm and Allison were dead, and the others would think she was missing.

Still, she smiled. Kelly, along with Linda and Allison, and Cassy who'd gotten tired of the foodfight, had gathered a large amount of firewood, drenched it in a bit of the oil, and lit it with Allison's lighter. They had forgotten, however, that there was a lot of vegetation near their fire, and it had spread out of control due to a wind shift. In the end, the interior of an entire cave had been burned out, Allison had gotten a burn scar on the side of her face trying to save Cassy, Linda had lost her eyebrows, and Mendez had found them a day sooner than expected, finding them due to them showing up on his Thermal scanner.

Still, it was one of the most fun days she can remember. They actually had fun that day.

Kelly sighed, and grabbed the necessary firewood for her own fire. She grabbed a lighter from her pouch. She thought about Allison for a moment.

Allison was the first recorded Spartan to be killed, and all of them had mourned her passing. She had also been their expert on everything involving fire. Fred had gotten along with her incredibly well, even more so than the rest of them. Kelly had once heard Kurt say that Fred and Allison were practically twin brother and sister, considering they always sought each other out.

She looked up, as Halsey stirred. The doctor grabbed her head. "How long was I out?" she asked.  
"Only a few hours." Kalmiya answered. "We... crashed, and Kelly got us all away from there. We found this cache, where we found a number of logs you might want to see."

Kelly pointed to the logs. The doctor lit up once she saw the rows of them.

"They're logs of a pair of Spartans." Kelly answered. "They're incomplete, however. I believe there are two more caches with the first and last parts. We only have the middle parts."

Halsey nodded, her eyes still fixed on the chips. "Still, it's worth something."

Kelly nodded, and watched, as Halsey viewed all the logs. They all were only a few minutes at the most, but there were about sixty of them. In the end, it took nearly three hours to watch them all, with both Kelly and Halsey taking turns watching the other's Spartan. In the end, their training wasn't all that different from her own training, only tougher. More and more challenges had been added to each exercise, and Six even claimed that she had to fight three squads of fellow trainees on her own, while outgunned and in a bad position.

B170 and B312 got along very well, it seemed, despite the fact they annoyed each other constantly, according to the logs. Both always talked about the exercises they successfully completed together. Yet, at the very end, she had heard them arguing about something called 'Zone 67', and how B170 wanted to go there, yet how Six told him to wait, as a Lieutenant Ambrose would take care of it. B170 had claimed they didn't have the time to wait, before they noticed the log was still playing, and shut it off.

Kelly wondered for a moment. Halsey, according to the files Kalmiya showed her, didn't know what Zone 67 was, but all of them had a hunch that whatever was in that zone could contain what Halsey sought as well.

She briefly shut her eyes, as it was nearly midnight, and she needed to be fit once they moved out of their shelter. She dreamt of another memory, back when they had learned of Cassy's… change.

* * *

 _HIGHCOM training facility, Reach, 12-01-2524_

 _Cassy was different now. There was no way around it, even for her._

 _In the past, Cassy had been curious, slightly unruly, and always eager to learn. Always did she manage to escape, yet every time the base personnel had found her, it was always either in a database or in the motor pool. Also, every time she and her team went on training exercises, they always stayed behind for a bit, to admire the nature and view of their surroundings. She and Randy, her teammate, had also been close friends, to the point Kelly sometimes envied what happiness they had, despite the fact she saw nothing in either of them in that regard. But Cassy, despite all of this, was also the most sociable person, to the point Kelly thought she talked more even than Sam. Of all of them, Kelly considered Cassy the most… human._

 _But ONI had taken her over six months ago, and they had done something to her. When she'd returned, she was nearly always silent, speaking only when spoken to, and always in short answers, unless she was to give orders. She also remained within the base's confines, an she never tried visiting the motor pool or the database again. Also, when an exercise was over, she was always the first of her team to leave, no longer staying to watch the view._

 _In short, ONI had changed her, to the point that they all barely recognized her anymore. The only reason Cassy had social interactions at all was because of her two teammates._

 _Kelly tried approaching her fellow Spartan about it, but she was always busy nowadays, either training, eating or sleeping. And the occasional conversation with her teammates. But for some reason, she stayed away from Clyde._

 _Jack and Chris, the two most senior Spartans in terms of age, due to administrative errors when ONI had selected them for the program, advised the others to let it be, and to let Cassy sort it out for herself._

 _And yet, Kelly still felt sorry for the little girl._

* * *

Kelly woke up at that moment. In the end, Sam and John, before she could approach the girl, had called her away, due to Mendez pitting their team in another exercise against Red team. She had never considered approaching the girl again after that: The Covenant War had started about a year later, and they never had the chance to meet up again. And when they'd all been recalled for Operation: RED FLAG, and the Covenant had assaulted Reach, Cassy had been one of those to stay behind and defend the Orbital Generators. So, there was no doubt Cassy was dead, and there wasn't a damn thing she could do to find out what ONI had done to her.

She suddenly looked up again, as she heard that noise: the sound of a twig breaking.

It was the only clue she had about the intruders, but Kelly was ready. She raised her shotgun at the only exit, as they'd blocked off the original entrance with the crates.

Briefly, she saw the end of an Assault Rifle's barrel stick out from above, pointing around. After a moment, it withdrew, before an armored figure dropped down, hitting the floor below.

It was clearly a Spartan, though the armor seemed terribly downgraded, even compared to the Reach Armor systems. It looked like if Kelly gave one punch, she could shatter it.

It did have Photoreactive coating, as the armor started mimicking the colors of their surroundings. But, with Kalmiya enhancing Kelly's Visor, and outlining the figure, Kelly had no trouble seeing it.

She contemplated attacking the figure. But with what Halsey had told her, this figure was supposed to be friendly. She hesitantly put Oathsworn on her backplate again, and stood up.

The figure must have heard something, because it whirled around to face her, his weapon aimed at her. Kelly raised her hands slowly, to indicate she was a non-hostile. Then, on a hunch, she whistled the Olly Olly Oxen Free tune.

Immediately, the figure lowered his Assault Rifle, and depolarized his visor. Kelly saw it was in fact a young woman behind the visor, no more than 18 years old. She was surprisingly short, likely even shorter than Six. And yet, Kelly could see she already had all her Augmentations, and that she was already fully trained. But she didn't show the clear, muscular structure Six and Jun had shown when Kelly had first seen them. Clearly, this wasn't a Cat-II, as Jun had called them: Spartan-III candidates with the genetic profile of a Spartan-II. The Figure whistled the tune as well, and did the gesture of a Spartan smile. Kelly returned it, then pointed at the still-sleeping doctor. The woman nodded, and moved more silently.

Kelly opened a com to her. "How many more of you are up there?" Kelly asked.

The woman raised 8 fingers. Kelly nodded, and remained silent. The fact the woman hadn't answered her question vocally, she either suspected their coms would be overheard, or she had had a traumatic event in the past, and had gone mute because of it.

The woman moved to the crates, silently put them down, and opened them. She was surprised when they were empty. She could work with that.

Kelly, understanding what the woman wanted, raised a few of the datachips, holding them between her fingers. The woman, upon seeing them, let her shoulders fall in relief, and stopped searching.

Kelly moved over to the doctor, and carefully prodded her with the tip of her boot.

"Get up, Ma'am. We have a visitor."

The woman signed that Kelly should pause, and she jumped out of the hole. After a moment, she returned, with someone else behind her as well.

The figure wore the same armor as the woman, although it was a bit taller than the woman. But, as he depolarized his visor, Kelly could see this was in fact a young man. He smiled, and held out his hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, Spartan. I'm Tom-B292."

Kelly shook the man's hand. "Kelly-087. Care to explain what's going on here?"

"Maybe later." He pointed at the doctor. "Is your Friend fit enough to walk?"

"She should be." Kelly answered. "No major injuries. We survived a crash, but we only got away with a few bruises."

The man nodded. He then, carefully, prodded the doctor as well. This time, she woke up.

She looked around, and, upon seeing the two Spartans, immediately stood up. "So I was right after all. There _are_ more Spartans out there."

Tom nodded. "Glad to know at least someone cares enough about us to come looking."

Halsey smiled. "I have to admit, I only learned about your branch when I ran across Noble Team."

Tom, and the woman, looked up. "Noble's alive?"

"To the best of our knowledge, yes." Kelly answered. "Though the team only consists of Jun-A266 and B312 at the moment. The other members died when Reach fell."

Tom nodded. "I'm sure we've been out of the loop for a while. But we should get going. These alien drones will find us if we stay here."

Kelly nodded, remembering the attacks they suffered on their way in. they all got out, with Halsey receiving a helping hand from Kelly, and they all moved on, into the bushes.

After about half an hour of walking, Kelly saw they were nearing the old training center. Tom shook his head when he saw her looking at it.

"The Drones hit that the moment they emerged. We're headed to a secret bunker beneath it."

Kelly nodded, and she followed the Spartan. After another ten minutes, they came at a metal hatch, which the woman lifted open. Tom turned to Halsey. "Be careful. It's a pretty long drop for non-Spartans."

Halsey nodded. "I'll ride on one of your backs, if you don't mind."

Kelly nodded, and went on one knee, so Halsey could climb on. Tom jumped in first, and after a moment of moving out of the way, Kelly followed him. It was a short ten-meter drop, and so, Kelly wasn't seriously affected. Lucy jumped in last, after carefully lowering the hatch down. They followed a short hallway, before they entered the main chamber.

Inside, as the Woman had said, were seven other figures, includi-

 _Chief Mendez._

The chief, upon seeing them, smiled, and put out his cigar as a sign of courtesy. Kelly depolarized her visor, and smiled at her former Training Officer, the closest any Spartan-II had to a father.

"Spartan." He said. "I'd ask why the hell you are here, but I think you will explain that later anyway."

Kelly nodded, and pulled out her collection of datacards. She lay them on the table, and, after a moment, saw they had also found a supply of the cards. She pointed. "You guys found another hideout as well?"

Mendez nodded. "Three klicks north of here, in a natural cave out of the normal training zone." He paused. "What's your interest in them anyway?"

Kelly shrugged. "I ran into B312 earlier, and she never said much about her training. I wanted to find out more.

Mendez smiled. "So Our psychopath's alive, huh?" he turned to one of the other figures, who was talking with Tom and the other woman. "Lieutenant Commander, I owe you ten bucks. B312 is alive."

The man turned, and she saw he was happy with winning the bet, and held his hand out. Mendez threw the owed Credits into the man's hand, and put them in a pouch. Mendez walked over to them, and Kelly followed.

Halsey, who was engrossed with the other figures, who were clearly Spartan-III's as well, looked up, and examined the Lieutenant Commander.

"I recognize my own handiwork, Lieutenant Commander." She started, as the Lieutenant turned to her.

"You are a Spartan-II." The man simply nodded. Kelly looked at him in surprise.

Indeed, he had the right height and physique to be a Spartan-II, and he communicated silently, just like one. She hit her own head mentally for not seeing it sooner. But that left the question: _who was it underneath the helmet_?

"Despite ONI's directive to declare every Spartan MIA instead of KIA," Halsey continued "I managed to keep track of which Spartans were actually 'missing'. There are Kurt, Randall and Sheila. Sheila is dead, killed in the battle of Miridem to protect me. That leaves Randall or Kurt."

Halsey paused, looking at the other figures. "I know the Threes look at you as a leader, similarly to how the Spartan-II's looked at me as a mother-figure. That makes you the Program's leader, regardless of Ackerson's oversight. If I wanted to have someone in charge of the Threes, I would pick Kurt. You always were even more Empathic than the others, and you always went the extra effort to understand people and their feelings. You also made the effort to know the marines under your command. Therefore, you must be Kurt.

The Lieutenant Commander's helmet depolarized, and she was pleasantly surprised to indeed Recognize Kurt underneath it.

She vividly remembered the day she had last seen him. When he had floated away due to a malfunctioning Propulsion unit. Clearly, ONI had faked his death, to get him to train the Spartan-III's.

She polarized her own helmet, and smiled as well.

"Is there anything you _don't_ know, Doctor?"

Halsey smiled. "It's good to see you alive Kurt. But let's return to the situation at hand."

Kurt nodded. "As you can see, I was training the Threes here, with Mendez. Ackerson tried to find Conroy, by the way. But he's disappeared."  
Halsey took on a sad expression. "He was at ONI SWORD base on Reach when it was bombarded, as was I. I was lucky enough to make it to the underground research facility. Conroy wasn't as lucky."

Kurt looked down. "My condolences Doctor. But anyway, I was coordinating a training exercise, when suddenly these drones emerged, and started attacking us. We recovered supplies from the camp you likely spotted earlier, and made our way here. We've been making hit-and-run attacks ever since, but we haven't made much progress."

Kelly frowned. "Why?"

"The Drones are Coordinated." One of the Threes answered. " They work in groups of three. Two are scouring the floor below, hunting us. The third is on over watch. The lower two can be taken out, but the over watch is out of range. And as long as the over watch is still there, it can easily call for reinforcements."

Kelly nodded. "So you remained here, out of its sight, until it could be dealt with."

Kurt nodded.

"How many more of you are there?" Halsey asked. "On the Planet I mean."

"Aside from Tom and Lucy," Mendez answered, pointing at the two that had picked up Kelly "There were three Five-man Teams: Gladius, Katana and Saber. Saber's here. Katana briefly sent a com, indicating they were herded into Zone 67 before we lost Contact three days ago." He paused. "We found Gladius dead, overwhelmed by the Drones."

Kelly nodded. "As much as we want to help, we didn't bring a lot that can do about the overwatch. Or that can get us into that zone."

"Why would you want to go in there?" one of the Threes that hadn't spoken yet asked. "The Drones own that place."

This time, Kalmiya spoke, through Kelly's armor. "There's ruins of an ancient civilization in there. A civilization that was a thousand times more advanced and powerful than even the Covenant." She paused. "We came across some files of them on Reach, and we believe there is Technology there that can help us win the war."

Kurt nodded. "That might explain why ONI flash-transmitted me those files, upon the alert of the Drones."

Halsey looked at Kurt, curiosity in her eye. "What files?"

"Mainly Onyx History." Kurt answered. "The Planet was declared off-limits upon discovery of the ruins. After I managed to wrestle this place as an area for a training ground, about Five Spartans have gone missing, disobeying orders and heading into that zone." He paused.

"None have returned, and ONI told me they saw 'a glowing eye', before it sent a beam at them, killing four of them and making the fifth go missing."

"Only missing because we've failed to uncover a body." Mendez added. "That of one person of those logs."

"B170." Kelly answered knowingly.

Mendez nodded. "He was the sanest guy there was among that company. I don't understand why he went. If anything, upon seeing those files, I expected B312 would have gone."

Kelly shrugged. "Despite her recklessness at times, she seems wiser than that."

Mendez shrugged. "I don't know. But anyway, that's all we have on that zone."

Halsey nodded. "Is there a way to reach HIGHCOM?"

Kurt nodded. "Yes. There's a Slipspace Drone linked to the com relay of this place But if we use it, the Over watch will listen in, and pinpoint our location. We'll have nowhere else to go."

Halsey nodded. "If we want to make progress, we'll have to take that risk. Kalmiya, compose a message, and send it to Hood."

"Right away." Kalmiya said. "What do you want it to say?"

Halsey thought for a moment. "Hint at the technology, and ask him to send Spartans."

Kalmiya nodded. "Done. I'm sending whenever you're ready. I'm linked to the array, so you can move out before I send out that call."

The others, understanding they needed to move, all grabbed their gear and moved out. After ten minutes, they were all packed with rations, medical supplies and ammo, and were about five kilometers distant.

"Do it." Kelly said, as they all stopped to look at the area where the bunker was located.

"It's being send. And… done. Will arrive at Hood in about thirty minutes."

Halsey frowned. "we don't have Superluminal Comms, right?"

"I intercepted a com message through Slipspace, as the drone linked to the relay. It's from Cortana. I'll fill you guys in later, but the short of it is this: Elites are defecting, along with a few other species, Brutes are bad, Covenant Capital station of High-Charity has fallen to the Flood, Cortana recommends NOVA-bombing it, and John's hunting the last Prophet."

"That's it?" Kelly asked sarcastically. "I expected more."

"Oh, and I forgot to mention: They've discovered another Halo."

At this, Kelly and Halsey looked at the AI.

"Can you repeat that?" Kelly asked, astonished.

"Your hearing's fine" Kalmiya said. "John discovered Halo numéro deux."

Kelly deactivated her helmet speaker, and let out a string of curses even Six would frown at. Although, come to think of it, she realized most she actually got from Six. Kalmiya laughed. "Oh, that's nasty. Sure don't let Mendez hear that."

Kelly sighed, and reactivated her speaker. Halsey was filling the others in.

"I won't go into detail, as I wasn't there. But the gist of it is this: Halo's a weapon, an artificial ring-world 10.000 Kilometers in diameter, designed to wipe out all life in the galaxy. Built by the same beings that built those ruins at Zone 67."

Mendez frowned. "Ok. But one question: _why_ would anyone want to wipe out all life in the Galaxy?"

"To deal with a parasitic lifeform that was spreading across the galaxy. They were desperate, and activated the rings. John, Sam, Linda and B312 already destroyed one, but it looks like John found another."

Kurt nodded. "And let me guess: The Flood mentioned in Cortana's message is the name of said parasite?"

Halsey nodded.

Kurt sighed. "Let's hope John manages to take care of it."

Halsey nodded, and Kelly couldn't agree more.

Still, she cursed herself. John was out there, likely in danger again, and there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it.

She thought back to the last time she'd seen him and could actually speak comfortably with him, without interruption and interference from others outside of the Spartan Program.

* * *

 _Ascendant Justice/Gettysburg, Eridanus Star System, 11-09-2552_

 _John, Fred, Linda and Jun just emerged from the Air lock, as they finished their shift of helping the Huragok move the last large pieces. They had been helping build that Energy Projector in the place of the MAC cannon for the last twelve hours, and, now that it was done, they made the last adjustments, before heading back inside. Since the Huragok were miracle workers concerning technology and retrofitting, she figured the Spartans were only truly necessary to keep the parts in place while the Huragok worked. It would likely have been a boring day for them._

 _Kelly, just looking from one of the many duels Fol and Wil were having the last few days, saw them enter the cargo hold. Her chest wound from the defense of the Ascendant Justice barely two days ago, she limped over, and helped them remove the bulky additional Air tanks, and set them down in the right lockers for later use, while one of the Huragok, Tends to Rise, filled them up._

 _Afterwards, they all moved back to the Cargo hold, where they all, except six, who was busy modifying her new Grenade Launcher, spent their free time, now that they were stuck in the star system thanks to that crystal Halsey had recovered._

 _John, instead of joining the majority in watching the duel between Fol Katarn and Will, moved a bit back into the bay, studying something._

 _Kelly moved to the other side, as Jun had made an improvised Kitchen there. That is, if the afterburner of a Longsword could be counted as a stove, an overheated Fusion coil could be counted as an over, and the water used to clean the ships, along with the drain, could be counted as a sink._

 _Kelly sighed. During the initial disabling of the Gettysburg, the energy beam that had disabled it had ravaged many areas… including the kitchens of the mess halls. And while Fol had managed to locate a Covenant equivalent of a kitchen somewhere in the Ascendant Justice, none of them felt inclined to taste the covenant's food, which smelled like spoiled Dogfood. And so, Jun had improvised, using the parts around the hangar to make a kitchen, using the smallest of containers as cooking pans_

 _She prepared meals for all of them, as Six, after a moment, joined her. It helped a bit, as the food was done faster, and, Kelly realized, Six was a great cook._

" _Where did you learn to cook this well?" Kelly asked, to pass the time as they waited for the water to boil for the rice._

" _My teammate couldn't cook for shit." she answered. "And I didn't want to be poisoned during our training exercises, so I taught myself to cook well."_

" _really?" Kelly asked. "All on your own?"_

" _It took about fifty tries to even get an egg boiled properly." Six admitted. "And I can't make Tacos for some reason. But everything else, I managed to learn through trial and error."_

 _Kelly nodded. "Still, you seem very good at it now."_

" _During my time infiltrating insurrectionist towns, you tend to pick up hints here and there." Six said. "Let's just leave it at that."_

 _Kelly nodded. Six tilted her head. "So. When are you going to talk to him?" the smaller Spartan finally asked._

" _Talk to who?" Kelly asked confused._

" _Oh, come on. You think I don't see those looks you sent to John the entire time? I'm not blind."_

 _Kelly mentally cursed Kalmiya, for if she had told her…_

" _But seriously, why hold out?" Six asked, as she prepared a few Spare Ribs for herself. "You obviously like him. Why not tell him?"_

 _Kelly sighed. "He's a good friend. I don't want to ruin that."_

 _Six nodded. "I understand that. I won't press you if you don't want to. Still, at least consider it." She said, as she finished with cooking the last bit of rice, and put it all on the dishes. She then added the vegetables they'd recovered from some of the supplies, and added the mix of meat and potatoes she'd made alongside it as well. Six grabbed her own plate of Spare Ribs and added the necessary ration bar to keep herself healthy._

 _The food they made was more for taste rather than actual nutrition. For while they were stronger and faster as Spartans, they needed a lot more proteins, vitamins and the like in order to be well-fed. And the normal meals ordinary humans ate just didn't cut it for them anymore. Still, it was the sentiment behind it that counted._

 _Six moved off again, to eat on her own. While she could get along with everyone extremely well, she never ate alongside them, and she always slept in her full-armor. To be honest with herself, Kelly had never even seen the face of the Spartan. But she didn't question why. She'd heard from Linda that she'd yelled down the last one who tried to order her into removing her helmet, and Kelly didn't want to alienate her fellow Spartan._

 _For, despite the fact the only knew each other for two days, they already were very good friends. Six always hung out with her and Linda, and the three of them even managed to keep Sam away when they weren't in the mood for company. All they had to do was play the loud epic music Six had gotten from that ODST. And, Kelly had to admit, the music had a nice ring to it, despite the volume._

 _And so, since she really was a friend, she seriously considered the advice she had given Kelly: Go talk to John._

 _Kelly decided to do so after they'd eaten. She grabbed the cart on which they'd set the plates, and she moved it to the dueling area, where the majority of them sat._

 _After eating, during which Fol used the improvised Kitchen to make his own food._

 _After that, after they'd all eaten their diner, John moved off, as did most of the others. Kelly followed the majority, as they all went to their sleeping quarters. In the end, after most of the others had entered their rooms, Kelly headed for the old mess hall. The area where the beam had cut through had been closed off by the Huragok as they'd repaired the ship, and the parts that were still accessible were used as a gaming room by the marines, namely Wilson and Johnson, who seemed to have some sort of friendly rivalry going on between themselves._

 _But now, since it was midnight by the ship's clock, it was deserted apart from her. She sat at one of the few round tables, her armor removed and brought to her own room earlier, reading one of the many magazines that lay strewn around the room._

 _After a moment, she heard steps, and she looked up. Sam entered the room, like her his armor removed, and only in his bodysuit._

 _He sat down across from her._

" _Couldn't sleep either, huh?" she asked. Sam nodded._

" _If you could hear Fred snoring across my room, you wouldn't either."_

 _Kelly laughed. "You sure it's him, and not the Field-Marshal?"_

 _Sam made a mockingly thinking pose. "Nah, it's Fred. But only because it's fun to pick on him slightly with it."_

 _Kelly smiled, and went back to reading. Sam grabbed one of the other magazines, and, after looking at it for a moment, made a paper plane of it, and attempted to throw it into a garbage bin._

 _He missed about fifteen times, and he cursed. "I hate paper. So fragile. I can barely even throw with it." he moved to pick it up._

 _When John entered the room, and accidentally stepped on it. He looked down. "oops."_

 _Sam laughed. "I was about to crumble it and throw it away anyway. Care to join us?"_

 _John sat down at their table as Sam moved over a bit. "So. Why can't you two sleep?"_

" _Someone nearby snores. I think it's Fred, and Kelly claims it's One-eye Fol."_

 _John tilted his head. "Ever considered you woke up from your own snoring?"_

 _Sam took on a mock-offended look, and put his hand in front of his mouth._

" _Oh, the very thought of me snoring!"_

 _Kelly smiled. "If all it takes to wake you up is the thought of snoring, no wonder you always stay up so late."_

 _The three laughed, and John grabbed something underneath the table. When Kelly looked up, she realized it was Wilson's deck of cards._

" _Someone forgot something." John said. "I'll return it in the morning. But for now, a game of cards?"_

 _Sam smiled. "You're on. You know you'll lose?"_

" _With my luck? Never."_

 _Kelly put down the magazine, and joined them. "Bring it. Men always lose."_

 _And so, the three played for a while, and it ended up in a tie, each one of them winning an equal number of times, though in Sam's part it was nearly over, and he only caught up due to an end sprint in winning._

 _After a moment, Sam got up. "well, I'm getting tired, so I'll try to sleep again. Still, don't look surprised if I show up again in half an hour."_

 _Kelly looked at him. "Just when you've finally caught up? Spoilsport?"_

 _Sam smirked. "As Mendez said: end the game while you're still ahead."_

" _You're not ahead." John pointed out._

" _I'm no longer behind either." Sam retorted. "Anyway, good night, you two."_

" _Try the observation bay." Cortana said over the mess hall's PA. "It's deserted, and no one's in range of snoring for seventy meters."_

 _Sam nodded. "Thanks, Blue lady." Sam said, and he exited the hall. Kelly turned to John. "Blue Lady?"_

" _Six' nickname for Cortana after we formally introduced. It hung a bit, but now, only Sam and Six still use it."_

" _I see." Kelly said, as she took on a smirk. "Wanna start a bet concerning when those two are going to come out with their… 'friendship'?"_

 _John smiled. "I still have to cash in the winnings from the last time we bet on that. But if you want to start a new one… what are you willing to bet?"_

 _Kelly thought for a moment. "The Shotgun I've been customizing. The winner gets to name it."_

" _Fair enough. As a placeholder, let's use the name Oathsworn, that we will remember to give it a proper name later."_

" _Deal." Kelly immediately answered. "I say within three weeks after our return."_

" _A month."_

 _Kelly smiled. "That's a bet you'll lose."_

 _John just leaned back in his chair. "We'll see."_

 _And so, they talked about both trivial matters and more serious matters, like Halo, what the Flood did, the new armor pieces Fred had brought with them and the like._

 _But neither of them managed to break the ice about said matter they both were thinking about right now._

 _Their feelings towards the other._

* * *

Kelly just sighed. She had wanted to broach that subject later, but the next day, Sam had spotted that abandoned Eridanus Rebels base, and after coming back, she'd never gotten to talk with John alone, as Doctor Halsey had taken her here, drugged.

She just sighed, and moved on with the rest of the group.

Now, they had to wait, as reinforcements would come.

* * *

Tallo Negro del Maiz, Havana, Cuba, North America, Earth, Sol System, 03-11-2552

Fred sighed, as he tried to recalibrate his Motion Sensor. _Again_.

He had just fought underwater, as the Bloodied Spirit was traveling across the world, looking for something. Evidently, it had found something, as it had deployed Ground Troops underwater. He, along with Linda and Will, were tracking it across the planet, per John's orders. And so, they had cleared out the contingent it had dropped down near the Antarctic. But, due to the large amount of water, his Motion Tracker had clogged up, and half of the targets it showed weren't real, and half of the targets it was _supposed_ to detect didn't show on the tracker.

Will hit the back of his helmet, and Fred was about to berate him for it. He had been tinkering with that helmet for an hour.

When his Motion sensor contacts changed, and he once again saw what targets were real or not. Fred made a Spartan smile at his comrade. "Thanks."

"Sometimes, violence is the best solution." Will said, amused."

"Don't let Sam hear that." Linda warned. "Or we'll never hear the end of it."

The nodded, and were about to move out. When Admiral Hood raised them.

"Sierra 104, do you copy?"

Fred answered. "This is Sierra 104. Go ahead, Admiral."

"I have just received a distress call from Doctor Halsey. She claims to be in close proximity of 'technology that can win us the war'. She specifically asked for your presence."

Fred frowned. "Me especially, Sir."

"No, Your team." Hood corrected. "Can you intercept the Bloodied Spirit while up there? Due to the rebellion of the Elites, with some even fighting alongside us, my ships are tied up."

Fred nodded. "We'll get it done, sir."

"Glad to hear it, Spartan. Also, A pelican is on its way, with reinforcements."

Fred frowned even more. "What kind of reinforcements?" he asked, curious.

"Sierra 034 didn't make it on In Amber Clad when she followed that Carrier. He has been stuck in New Mombasa for the last two days. He only got back to the Cairo here an hour ago. I thought you could use the extra hand, so I sent him in your direction."

Fred smiled. "he's welcome anytime, Sir."

"Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must oversee the defense of the planet."

Fred nodded, and he signed off. He turned to the others.

"Sam's on his way here. We are supposed to capture the ship instead, and head over to coordinates Hood sent us. Halsey called specifically for our aid."

Linda shrugged. "Glad big guy comes along. As long as he doesn't expect me to lug his Minigun around.

Then, a new voice entered their conversation.

Sam's voice.

"I can hear you, you know?" he said. "Don't worry, I'll carry my own weapons. But don't expect me to carry you up any mountains."

Linda laughed. "Good. I could use the exercise."

"Care to at least leave us a few explosives once you're done here? I want to throw a grenade or two as well." Will joked. Sam, of course, dived right in.

"One or two? Just so I know how many I need to leave for you."

Will mimicked pulling out a gun with his hand, and shooting himself in the head.

Fred sighed. "Make that six, two for each of us. And make it quick. The longer we stay here, the longer Bloodied Spirit has to get away."

"Sure thing, Boss. Or do you prefer Sir?"

"Sir will do fine in your case."

"I'm inbound. ETA: Lightning speed."

Indeed, in less than two seconds, Fred heard a pelican fly by overhead at top speed. After a moment, something jumped out, and fell. Towards their position.

Fred, catching Sam's idea early on, moved a few paces back. Linda and Will, seeing Fred do it, did likewise.

After a moment, Sam landed.

And he was armed to the teeth. He had a Minigun in his hand, a Rocket Launcher on his back, two bandoliers of Grenades across his chest, and two SMG's on his thighs.

Will whistled. "Our walking armory's arrived." He grabbed a pair of grenades from one of the bandoliers. Linda and Fred did likewise.

Sam turned to Fred. "So what's the plan, sir? Expect me to just waltz in and take them all out?"

Fred shook his head. "Negative. On our way in, we observed Brutes loading in a few Nukes, and we're going to steal that cargo and make our way up the cruiser. Then, we head for that Planet Halsey's on, and get what she claims is so important."

Sam nodded. "But how do we take that elevator? It's guarded more heavily than ONI's mainframe."

Fred smiled. "We're going to take that." He pointed to the right, which Will and Linda had already seen. Once Sam saw it, he laughed.

It was a Deutoros Scarab.

"You're kidding?"

"No. The Elites, Hunters, Grunts and Huragok are defecting. Those things are controlled by the same worms as those Hunters. I'm going to convince them to give us a ride."

Sam smiled. "Now that's what I'm talking about."

Fred smiled as well, as he thought back to one of his more pleasant memories.

* * *

 _Training field, Reach, 25-05-2519_

 _Fred ducked, as Gray Team fired on their position again._

 _Mendez, as usual, had added another factor of surprises to this day's exercises, namely, that all teams were split and mixed, and he was now in a team with Allison and Randy, instead of Kurt and Linda as usual._

 _They were together in a combination of a race and a fire exercise: There was a bell in the center of the field, and each teammember that wasn't hit was supposed to ring it. But it was all out in the open, and each of them, all of the Spartan trainees, was given a paintball-gun, and they were all bent on being the first to ring the bell, even though it wasn't specifically ordered. Neither was there a time limit._

 _He didn't know his other teammembers all that well, if he was honest with himself. The only one he faintly recognized, for some reason, was Allison. And, it appeared, she recognized him too._

 _After a few minutes, They had determined the composition of the closest four teams: John, Cassy and Victor were Blue Team, who were behind them. But they were busy with Red team, consisting of Kurt, Kelly and Douglas. In front of them, however, were Black and Gray team, consisting of David, Margaret, Maria and Mike, and Romero, Jai and Jack, respectively. Fred and his team had already taken care of Clyde, Malcolm and Jerome's Yellow team, and Alice, Otto, Linda and Sam's Orange Team. The rest of their brothers and sisters had already been taken out, by trainers that had thrown themselves in the mix._

 _Fred thought he understood the purpose of the exercise: To teach them to all work together, not merely with those you knew well. But still, Fred couldn't help but be nervous about the prospect of his team members not following orders._

 _He looked at his two teammates again. Randy was keeping Black team suppressed, while Allison was eyeing a pair of sticks. Normally, if Linda or Kurt ever did that, he would tell them to focus. But one look at Allison, and he knew she was planning something. He crawled over her position. "What are you thinking?" he asked._

" _I'll tell you when I've figured it out." she answered._

 _That didn't comfort him at all. Still, he let her think, as he fired a few pot shots at Gray Team. He was sure he heard Jack swear, as he was hit. And sure enough, after a moment, he got up, and walked out of the designated area._

 _After a moment, he finally heard her chuckle. Fred turned to her. "Figured out how you plan to take them all on?" he asked. She nodded. She then held her hand out. "Can I have your sleeve?" she asked._

 _Fred was confused by this. Why the hell would she want a sleeve? But he complied, and ripped off his left sleeve, handing it to her. Randy, pausing a bit, looked at Allison, and handed her his right sleeve. Allison wrapped them around the broken branches, and grabbed something out of her pocket. Fred saw it was a lighter._

" _What are you planning to do?" Randy asked._

" _Make a few torches, toss them over to their position, drive them out of cover, and shoot them as they appear."_

 _Randy smiled. "Sounds like a plan." he turned to their unofficial leader. "What do you think, Fred?"_

 _Fred nodded. "Who of you can throw the best? Because I still need to work on that."_

" _I'll do it. I can toss really well."_

 _Allison lighted the torches, and handed them to Randy. After a moment, to make sure that they were good, he looked around. He turned to Fred. "Care to help me spot them?"_

 _Fred promptly fired at the cover they'd previously been. After a moment, the fire returned. Fred got back into cover. "Gray's moved three meters to the right. Black's still in the same place."_

 _Randy nodded, reared his hand back, and tossed the first torch at Gray team. Promptly, after it landed, Jai and Romero ran out, not expecting to have actual fire tossed at them. Allison and Fred promptly shot them down. After a moment, randy tossed the other at Black team's position. After a moment, four figures ran out, as well. Fred managed to hit Mike and David, and they, begrudgingly, walked out. Allison managed to his Margaret and Maria, as they got out. After seeing what they had done, Margaret smiled. "Impressive. Though I wonder how you made a fire so fast."_

 _Allison smiled, as she grabbed her lighter. "Instructors really should be careful with their lighters. I'll have to give it back once Mendez finds out, of course. But that doesn't mean I won't enjoy it while it lasts."_

 _with that, the three of them moved to ring the bell. The other two teams, too busy taking each other on, didn't notice as Randy, Fred and Allison slipped past them. Fred rung the bell first, and immediately aimed at the two groups. As expected, they'd heard the ringing. And all looked up. Allison hit it second, partially leaning on Randy, as she was the shortest of all their 72 siblings. The others, determined to stop them, rose from their cover. Randy hurriedly rang it last of them, and they all turned._

 _They were outnumbered two-to-one, and Fred knew they wouldn't go without being hit._

 _But he smiled anyway. And so did Allison._

 _They'd rung the bells first. They'd won._

* * *

In the end, although they'd hit over half of their siblings, they'd been felled in the end. But Allison and Fred had gotten close in the end. It wasn't as close as he and Linda were now. But it still was something that reminded Fred of a twin siblings relationship. He had, back then, been closer to her than to anyone else.

Then he refocused on the situation at hand. He and the others had a job to do.

* * *

 **There you go, the first Chapter of Ghosts of Onyx. I will admit, this story will likely be shorter than the others due to a lack of inspiration. as compensation, I will write four Epilogues instead of my usual two. I hope that will satisfy the haters. until then.**

 **Gharst Omenlumin.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here, Blue Team is finally introduced to the new enemy. Now, the shadow finally clears, and what is suspected is immediately exposed.**

 **Now, read, as ruin rains down upon us all**

* * *

Halo: Ghosts of Onyx

Chapter 2

Sam grabbed his Minigun and Rocket Launcher with both hands, in order to make sure they don't make as much noise bumping into anything, as they snuck their way towards the Scarab.

Linda chuckled, as what he did seemed clumsy on first sight. "Sam, when I said I didn't want you to carry my gun, and that you could hold your own, that was a joke."

Sam turned to her. "Maybe. But if I just let them hang from my back, they'll bump into anything. So, if you don't mind, I'll just lug them along."

Fred shrugged. "Suit yourself. Just don't blow up the entire Scarab."

Sam nodded, and they all shut up.

After fifteen minutes of sneaking around, they managed to arrive at the Scarab. As expected, it lowered its body, so they all could climb aboard. Sam tossed in his weapons, and jumped on.

Will was the last one to board, and so, they all moved out, towards the control bay of the Scarab.

When they finally arrived, they saw the Screens were not of the controls, as usual with this Deutoros Scarab, but of an Elite, who was off talking with someone else. Sam looked on, and tapped the screen. The Elite on display turned to them.

"Ah, the Demons. The one called Hood said you would be here."  
"Who are you?" Fred asked.  
"I am Fleetmaster Kantar 'Utaralee, and I have allied with you after Thel Vadam's speech."

Linda shrugged. "So, you dropped this gift here just for us?"

Kantar nodded. "Yes. I would like, however, that you intercept the cargo at the bottom of the Orbital Elevator, before you head up to the Cruiser."

Will looked suspicious at the Elite. "Why? What's so important about this Cargo?"

"Hood asked me to intercept it. He called them FENRIS Warheads."

All of the Spartans stood more alert at that. The Elite was asking them to recover Nukes? That was new.

"Where does Hood want them?" Fred asked, the first to recover from the surprise.

"Most of them on the Scarab, which will ferry them to UNSC Dropships that will ferry them to the ships that need them. Two, however, he is donating to your cause. He figured you could use the firepower."

Fred nodded. "My thanks. I'll secure them. Your scarab will know when it's done."

Kantar nodded. "I do not know where you are going, but I wish you good luck... Spartans." And with that, the image was replaced by an image of the area, before it turned back to the controls of the Scarab. Fred whirled around to Sam. "Before you start: No. You will not carry the nukes, nor will you have access to the detonation codes. I will keep them."

"Why?" Sam asked, falsely innocent. "I have never blown up anything."

Will snorted, and soon, Sam chuckled as well. Sam was lying here, and they all knew it.

Sam thought back to the first time he had _intentionally_ blown up something.

* * *

 _Forest, Highland Mountains, Reach, Epsilon Eridani system._

 _14-07-2523_

 _Sam sighed, as he mixed the last of the Cocktails together, that would create an acid that would melt through the floor of their barracks._

 _He, along with the rest of Blue Team, had once again been pitted against Tango Company, in one of Mendez's many training exercises. But the Marines, tired of being beaten all the time by the virtually Twelve-year-old children, had started using Live Rounds on this one. And so, Sam had gathered a few chemicals, most from the garage they had in their base and the rest from their car fuel tanks, and started making the acids. John had a plan to beat the Marines, and had asked Sam to come up with said cocktail._

 _Allison, similarly, was working away at making a Molotov Cocktail from ingredients stolen earlier, while Fred and Sam were making Narq-Dart guns: airguns that shot needles dipped in a tranquilizer. One that would knock even a Guta out for a few days. They knew because Tango Company had tried, unsuccessfully, to use it on them._

 _Sam finally added the last of the chemicals, and put the lid on it. Once it was opened to the air again, the stuff would fume, and it would slowly eat away at anything... including the container._

 _So, after that was done, they all got to their positions, near the road they'd blocked that Tango Company would have to drive across._

 _After about an hour of waiting, they finally heard the truck approach. As the marines got out to move the log away, he and the others that would be going inside (He, John, Kelly and Fhajad) crawled under the truck, and held on to the underside, the mirrors to pass the inspection held between their teeth. They were taped around certain areas to ensure they wouldn't break as easily, but Sam was still careful, even after the Marines had gotten back into the truck and driven away. He had always been the physically strongest of them, and he didn't want to actually break it by biting down too hard._

 _After about an hour of driving, for which it took all of Sam's will to hold on, they finally arrived at the outpost the Marines were using. Sam let go with one hand and grabbed the mirror, holding it ready so when the Marines looked underneath with that mirror attached to a pole, they would only see the underside in front of Sam._

 _Sure enough, despite Kelly briefly fumbling with her mirror, they managed to get in. After the Marines, parked the Warthog in the Garage, and left it alone, Sam finally, silently, lowered himself to the ground, and let go. He, like the others, rolled out from underneath that truck. After a minute of stretching muscles and removing a bit of the cramps, they finally set out to work. Sam handed John the cocktail of acid he's been carrying, while Fhajad handed Sam the molotov Allison had made. They all moved out to their respective objectives:_

 _John would put the acid on the bottom floor of the Barracks, and place a few Stun grenades in there._

 _Fhajad would be near the Fence, ensuring their only way out was still clear._

 _Kelly would move to a covering position, dart gun in hand, so that John could grab the flag without problem once all the ruckus started._

 _And Sam would make sure the the Marines were properly distracted. Namely, both by the ambush at their barracks, and by the fact their spare fuel was going up in flames, an idea come up with by Allison._

 _One Sam would execute._

 _He moved silently from shadow to shadow, careful to never cross the direct line of sight of one of the marines, and made his way to the spare Fuel Tanks._

 _After waiting for the agreed upon time, to ensure everyone was ready, Sam opened the tanks, and threw in the Molotov. From a distance, of course._

 _He watched, in satisfaction, as the Tans blew up._

 _I need to do that again._

 _But he ha no time. The Marines would soon be making their way here, or to the barracks, and he needed to be gone by then. He ran along the backs of the buildings, and made his way to their escape: A hole Fhajad had cut in the perimeter fence._

 _He stood there, waiting for them. Sam jumped through the hole, and waited on the other side. After a moment, Kelly and John came running, and Sam saw John carried the flag they were supposed to retrieve._

 _They ran back into the forrest, their backs covered by Linda, Fred and Allison, the three of them being the best shots with the Dart guns._

 _John led the way, as they headed for the extraction point. They weren't due to be picked up in a few hours, but there was no point in being late arrivals._

 _They waited, hiding in the bushes, as the clock ticked down to the time Mendez would come, and see if they had succeeded in their objective._

 _Thirteen minutes before he was due, a Pelican swooped in, and landed in the clearing in front of them._

 _Fhajad moved to get up, but John held him back._

" _Too soon. When isn't the Chief perfectly on time?"_

 _Fhajad nodded, and he sank back down into a crouch again._

 _John handed Sam the flag they'd stolen, folded so the bright-white Star wouldn't reflect in the Pelican's lights. "Keep it safe. I'm going to lure them out."_

" _Be careful." Sam said._

 _And so, they watched, as their leader got up, and made his way to the dropship. Sure enough, before he could even board, eight men got out of the dropship, and made a semi-circle around John. The leader of them, a Lieutenant, walked up to John._

 _And gave him a hard punch in the stomach. Sam saw Kelly winch quite a bit at that._

 _The Leader pulled John up, and gave him a punch in the jaw, dropping him down on the ground again._

 _He saw Kelly was trying very hard to restrain herself from moving out there to stop the Lieutenant. And Sam couldn't agree more: Their success depended on them being able to hide that flag from the Marines. And if Kelly ran out there to help their friend, she would be caught, and could be used as leverage against John._

 _And none of them wanted that. So instead, Sam just gave a reassuring squeeze int he shoulder._

 _Kelly looked at him, nodded, and sat down._

 _Suddenly, three of the Marines encircling John dropped. After a moment, three more dropped, leaving just that Lieutenant and another Marine. Sure enough, after a second, they, too, fell._

 _Sam and the others got up, and made their way to the Dropship. He made a note to thank Allison, Fred and Linda for their expert shooting._

 _Sam helped John up, and handed him the Flag again. "I believe this is yours, Cap'n."_

 _John rolled his eyes, tired of the old pirate captain joke. And Sam couldn't blame him. It was, after all, first made a few years ago, and Sam always made it at least once a month._

 _Kelly walked over, and gave the downed Lieutenant a hard kick in the stomach. "That's for messing with us." she said, and moved on._

* * *

That had been one hell of a long exercise. It took them weeks to arrange everything: The Chemicals, the stolen Stun Grenades, the mirrors, the Molotov... they even had to make a mix of very nauseating food to keep the attack dogs Tango Company had brought with them out of the equation.

Still, it was one of the best they'd done, according to Mendez. And so, everyone was satisfied with it.

Sam then grabbed his Minigun, as they were getting close the the Orbital Elevator. Sam made sure he kept out of plain sight, so their cover wouldn't be blown quickly.

As they walked up to the final gate, Fred finally gave the signal.

Sam walked up to the top side of the Scarab, and fired away at the Brutes guarding the warehouse containing the Warheads. They went down rather fast, as they didn't wear full body armor, and Sam's minigun easily tore through their admittedly thick skin.

Will, borrowing Sam's Rocket Launcher, fired up, and a Banshee crashed right in front of the Scarab.

After a minute, with Sam and Linda mostly picking the Brutes off at a distance with their specialized weapons, it was clear.

Fred and Will moved on to the main door of the warehouse. As they pulled the door open, and Sam looked inside, he whistled.

There were over _Twelve_ Nukes inside that place.  
"Still think I shouldn't carry them?" Sam asked mockingly. Fred shook his head.  
"No. You _will_ carry them onto the Scarab. While _we_ watch."

Sam sighed.

After about five minutes of carrying the ten nukes destined for Hood and Kantar's ships to the Scarab, Fred and Will each hoisted up one of the Nukes, and they all boarded the Elevator.

Sam smiled for once. Fred had said that, during their pursuit of the ship across the planet, they had downed a lot of the Ship's crew and soldiers.

All they now had to do was board the ship, make their way to the Bridge, take it over, put in the coordinates for Onyx, and make their way to Halsey.

Piece of cake. So much that Sam was sure even _he_ could have done it on his own.

* * *

Stealth Vessel, orbit over lunar body of third planet, Sol System.

Agent Solomon Kaiser looked at the disappearing target, the Bloodied Spirit.

Upon intercepting that communication's message sent to Hood, he had informed High Command of the situation: There was a new, potential source of technology, ripe for the taking. But Spartans were being sent there as well. And if Kaiser's sources were right, it actually was a training ground for the Threes.

He raised his overseer, and informed him, of this new development: that Blue Team had taken the cruiser, and was making their way to Onyx.

"Sir, They're on their way. Blue Team has captured the Bloodied Spirit, intercepted the Nukes taken by the Doisac Brutes, and headed for the Onyx coordinates."

The Overseer, an Unggoy, nodded. "As we expected they would. But we are already on site, and busy locking on to the Portal to Sarcophagus."

Kaiser frowned. "Sir, all due respect, this is Blue Team. They have defied odds before. Do not dismiss them like they're a mere squad of ODST soldiers." He pointed at the overseer. "They have the highest kill count in the entire UNSC. I'm telling you, you need more men."

"Your concern is noted. But what chance do five Spartans and a civilian stand against an entire Stormtrooper Legion?"

Kaiser's mood lifted in understanding. The Overseer didn't know as much about Onyx as Kaiser did, and was making decisions purely on the assumption it would only be Blue Team and Halsey he would be dealing with.

"You don't know the truth about Onyx, do you, Sir?" Kaiser said. "ONI had it off the charts, and the planet's large. We have been unable to find the training site of the Threes for years. Connect the dots."

The Overseer frowned for a moment, before he looked up with the realization. "The Threes are trained there?"

Kaiser nodded. "It's the most logical place I can come up with: Rough enough of an environment for the Spartans to train in, off the charts and out of the way so no one can stumble upon them, and it would explain all the ONI personnel that have gone missing in that start sector."

the Overseer nodded. "I see." he paused. "I will inform Commander Coldrun of your suspicions, and ask for two more Legions, as well as a Cerberus squad."

Kaiser swallowed. Even one Cerberus unit could give even the Master Chief a run for his money. But an entire Squad...

"I advice you turn that into _three_ squads, Overseer. There's no telling how many Spartans there actually _are_ on the planet, and I don't want us to be caught off-guard."

The Overseer nodded. "A wise decision. But remember: _He_ will be displeased if we lose this many Cerberus operatives. They're more expensive to create and train than even Assault Carriers or Marathon Cruisers. If they are killed, he will have _both_ our necks."

Kaiser nodded, knowing how Gharst looked upon the deaths of the Cerberus units. Not to mention, Recko. If Gharst didn't get them, Recko would.

And he preferred Gharst's executions to _anything_ Recko could do to them.

"They won't fail. As you know, the Master Chief's occupied with Truth, and that HyperLethal Three's on Sang'Katarn. They won't fail."

"For both our sakes, I hope they won't." the Overseer said, before signing off.

Kaiser sat back in his chair for a moment, watching the large battle between the Covenant loyal to Truth and the Separatist/UNSC alliance unfold.

Indeed, it would likely guarantee success if the Cerberus squads were deployed on Onyx. But any casualty among their ranks, and Kaiser would find his neck to be severed, and likely put on a pike.

He just hoped Blue Team would be exhausted by the Sentinels before they engaged Cerberus.

* * *

Onyx orbit, Zeta Doradus system.

Linda frowned, as they exited Slipspace above Onyx. For one, while Halsey said the system was remote, it was practically still within UNSC territory. And, from the looks of it, it was actually inhabitable.

Second, there were a lot of small miniature Drones overhead. Linda even thought she spotted a few of them headed...

"Incoming." Will said from the sensor station. "About two hundred contacts, unknown designation, but seemingly Forerunner in appearance."

"Weapons charged and ready." Sam said from the weapons station. "Although I'm not sure if it's the plasma torpedoes or the energy projector I'm using."

"Linda, get us on course for the sector Halsey said they would be in. Will, go ahead and prepare a dropship. And take the nukes on board as well. Sam, take down as many as you can, but abandon the effort if it's too much. Our objective's to land on the planet, not kill unknown drones."

They all nodded, as Fred took charge of the situation. Will ran away from the sensor station with the nukes, and Sam pushed a lot of buttons. The ship shook as Plasma discharged from the cannons. Linda put them on a course that would get them in the necessary sector. Just not in the usual way.

"Looks like it's Plasma torpedoes after all." Sam quipped.

"And _you_ were supposed to be our heavy weapons expert?" Linda teased. "I expected better."

"Cut the Chatter." Fred said from the engineering console, putting as much power as he could into weapons and engines. Sure enough, they sped forward.

But after a moment, things went bad. As usual. The Sensor station started whining some alarm.

Fred got up from the engineering console, and got a look.

"This can't be right." Fred said. "Sensor's showing three ships exiting Slipspace right behind us... two Marathon-class Cruisers and a CCS-class Cruiser. They're in formation with one another."

Linda frowned. "Even Kantar and Hood aren't as synchronized, with the peace between Elites and Humans only hours old."

She looked at the Hologram Fred brought up in the center of the Bridge: The planet, with the drones, to the front of the ship, the Bloodied Spirit in the center, and the fleet of Three ships in the back. After a moment, Sam jumped up.

"Wait. Zoom in on the dorsal bow of the Marathon on the right."

Fred complied, and he manipulated the Hologram. After a moment, it zoomed in on the area indicated. It showed a symbol. One they hadn't seen in a month, and didn't expect to see now.

A Shield as a background, with an Elite skull up front, with a hole indicating the skull had been shot, and two combat knives serving as crossbones.

"So." Fred said concerned. "We get to meet the killers of the Eridanus Rebels."

"Looks that way." Linda answered. "Still, at current projections, we'll still arrive before they do."

Fred nodded, and as he moved back to the engineering, he raised Will.

"Will, be careful. Unknowns on our six. Markings match those we found on that elite we found at the Eridanus rebels base."

"I copy, sir. Nukes are aboard, and I'm starting the preflight checks now."

"You better hurry." Sam said. "They're charging weapons."

"Who?" Linda asked.

" _Both_ of them, the ones behind and in front of us... and _we're_ in a crossfire here."

Linda cursed, as she glanced over to sensors. Indeed, there was an Energy Build-up in both parties. But she observed something else. Something... interesting.

The drones were combining. And the Energy build-up tripled.

And that could only mean...

instantly, she activated all emergency thrusters on the bottom, and fired the engines. It brought everyone down on the ground, and it rattled Linda's teeth... and brought them out of the line of fire just as the large mass of Drones fired their energy beams. They missed their Cruiser...

And hit the one of the unknown assailants. Linda silently cheered. That was one...

then her cheers died down, as she saw what emerged from the cloud of vapor.

The Cruiser the drones had hit. Undamaged.

Linda was slightly shocked. That build-up, when she'd detected it, was similar to one of an energy Projector's beam, and would have had the same effect on _their_ cruiser. But for this one to escape unscathed, they must have had a ton of luck, a super good reactor...

Or shields superior even to those of the standard Covenant. She didn't know which of the latter two she dreaded more.

Fred got up, as they finally entered the atmosphere. The drones, seeing more prey, had abandoned them in favor of the unknown targets at their backs. "Everyone, to the Dropship." he ordered. "with these Drones' lasers, and the unknown's shields, we're the underdog. And as much as I want to dug it out with them we're no naval experts or tacticians."

Linda nodded, and she got out from her station in one of the crew pits. Then, she followed Fred and Sam to the Dropship, running as they went.

They got to the Dropship, a Phantom gunboat, just in time: The Drones started firing on them again, and she stumbled as the ship shook from the drones' fire. Then, as the Dropship exited the bay, the ship broke apart behind them. The unknowns had fired on them as well, and the ship's reactor must have overheated. The ship blew into three pieces, and all trailed down to the planet below.

Fortunately, due to Linda's unusual course, exactly where the camp would be. They let the dropship fall as well, disguised as debris. After a moment, as they nearly crashed into one of the Cruiser's forward ventral fins, Will reactivated the dropship's engines, and they flew away, to where they suspected Halsey would be.

* * *

As they landed, Sam looked around. It wasn't that harsh of a planet. Mostly, it just seemed like a lot of jungle, and here and there in the distance a patch of tundra. But still, they were in cover now, and they needed to keep moving. Halsey and the others with her would likely need a lift to wherever the technology might be, and they needed to be found.

He looked over his back, at the rest of the group. Linda, as usual, was covering their rear, Sniper aimed behind them at all times. Fred was in the middle, his Battle Rifle held ready in case of an attack, and the Spartan Laser he'd scavenged earlier during the battle of Earth still on his back. And Sam was walking out front, ready to take anything coming at them down with his Minigun. Will was still in the Dropship, keeping her ready in case they needed evac fast.

He looked at his right. The Canyon wall, on top of which most of the Cruiser had crashed, was kilometers long. Fred had figured it would be good to stay in the immediate area of the crash site, as the others would likely start searching for them there. And so, they were walking in circles, patrolling the area, in case more of those Drones appeared.

And sam was pretty sure by now they were some sort of previously unseen Sentinels. They were Forerunner, small in initial appearance, and guarded Forerunner sites. It made sense for them to be Sentinels.

But he dismissed his thoughts. He needed to pay attention to his surroundings, and to do that, he needed to be alert.

He was walking the circle for the fifth time, when he noticed something. One of the large rocks in the wall, hidden behind a pair of other rocks, was of a slightly different color than the other ones. And, as Sam stepped closer and tapped at it with his finger, of a different kind than the onyx they had seen a lot in the last few minutes.

"What did you find?" Fred asked, as he moved over to look.

Sam put down his Minigun, grabbed both sides of the Rock, and lifted it. He put it down on a different spot than earlier.

As expected, it had revealed a previously hidden cave. Fred and Linda had their weapons raised at the new opening. Sam picked up his Minigun again, and stepped inside. The others shortly followed.

It was a dead end. It just led to a small supply chamber. The back wall was stacked with crates, mot of which, upon further inspection, were filled with trash, stolen armor and supplies. Aside from that, there were a table, on which lay a datapad and a datachip, a crate to sit on, and a...

Sam picked it up. He _didn't_ know what it was. It was like a very small baton, yet, with the black grip longer than the actual silver-gray stick. In total, it was only about 55 centimeters long. He looked at it.

Then, despite himself, he smiled. On the bottoms was a sticker, and there were a few words written on it.

 _If found, return to S.E.V. Zane. _

So this was Six' combat knife. Or one she had owned prior to joining the Spartan Program.

But that didn't make sense. She was only nine when she was 'recruited' by ONI.

That meant it had likely belonged to a relative of her. Likely her father.

He put the odd baton away on his belt, and looked at the others. They were all still looking around, inspecting some of the goods on their own. Sam went back to his own search.

He picked up the data chip, and put it into his helmet.

Immediately, his HUD went black, and for a moment he feared he had let a virus inside the chip get into his armor.

But it didn't end up that way. The HUD was replaced by an image, of this cave in the background.

And in the foreground, despite looking younger and without as many scars as he'd seen on the Ascendant Justice and in her files, was Six.

He smiled, and he listened to the story of her Log, numbered ninety.

* * *

 _Log 90 of Sierra B312. I suppose this will be my last Log here, as I will be shipped out tomorrow for the Augmentations._

 _B170 is still missing. That makes over six months. That's the largest amount of time anyone's been gone from this place. Even my interrogation resistance training didn't last as long. And ONI, as usual, has been unable to recover a body. Just like with Fire team X-ray. I want him found, but Lieutenant Ambrose doesn't have the Authority to mount a proper search for him. And ONI sure isn't going to step in. They value Zone 67 too much, and don't want too many prying eyes. Beyond their own, of course. But even if they hear Ambrose's request, they won't consider one trainee worth the effort of further investigating whatever's up there._

 _Crazy nutter, B170. He might have looked sane to anyone else, but he was just as crazy as me. He was just a lot better at hiding it. Heh, that's the only good thing he's taught me: How to hide stuff, like true intentions, behavior. Or even feelings. All real handy when avoiding interrogations, or 'evaluations', as ONI likes to call them._

 _Look, I don't want to worry anyone who finds these things. But in case you find these, things will have gone downhill here. I secured this place as best I could._

 _And believe me, I can do a lot, especially with all the Special training I've been taking in addition to the original regime and the Cat-II training Kat has also been doing. This thing's now a practical bomb shelter. That is, unless the Brutes start ripping at the Boulder I'm using as an emergency exit._

 _It's also my last for another reason: My routine thefts of Datachips for all those logs. has been noticed._

 _If you find this, take my heirloom. It's that weird baton-looking thing on the table._

 _I hope you'll find your own uses for it. I know what it is, and it's helped me a lot over the years._

 _Good luck._

 _B312 out._

* * *

Sam pulled out the chip. He looked around again. She said that this was Log 90. therefor, there had to be more.

He found them in less than a minute. The Crate serving as a chair was filled, and inside Sam had found all the logs.

Fred walked over, and inspected them. They were sorted in Racks, and Sam could read two specific sets of each. One, as expected, belonged to Six, under the designation B312. The other belonged to the Spartan she'd mentioned, B170. It was incomplete, and a quarter of what could be filled was missing. Likely around that moment, B170 had gone missing.

Sam gathered the racks of Datachips, put them in his pouches, and looked around again.

There wasn't anything additional of value. Fred and Linda had grabbed the leftover rations of since Six left, and there wasn't much else. So, they moved out, and made their way to continue their patrol.

When they immediately were forced back into cover, as fire came at them from all around them.

Sam dived back into the cave, and he looked at Linda. "That Sonar sounds real nice now." he said. "Would aid tremendously in determining how many of them are out there."

Linda nodded, and activated her Sonar attachment. After a moment, she flicked the switch again, multiple times. Finally, after nearly fifteen seconds of trying, she shook her head.

"Thing's broken. It has to be."

"And why is that?" Fred asked, as he slightly rounded the corner to fire, only to be forced back as Plasma Launcher rounds hit near his position.  
"I'm detecting Brutes, Elites and Humans all working together. All of them against us."

"Ever considered Mercenaries?" Sam asked, as he fired a Rocket at where he suspected a few of them were in cover. After the hit, dust shot up, and sure enough, Sam saw the fire headed towards them had lessened.

"Could be." Linda admitted. "But I doubt it. They're _too_ well equipped. _Too_ well organized."

"And they've got us cornered." Fred said. "The only other exit's too small for us in armor. And once we remove it, we won't stand a chance out there."

Sam peeked around the corner, as more and more shots hit their cover.

They were, indeed in a tough spot.

Then, he got an idea. _The gunboat!_

"Will, where are you?" he asked. "We're under attack, and need immediate fire support."

unfortunately, only static answered him. _Not good at all!_

"Blast!"

"We're being jammed." Fred said. "As Linda said: too organized."

Sam nodded, then deployed the stance he had for the Minigun, and deployed it so he could fire clearly down the chokepoint. And prepared for what could be their last stand.

* * *

Kelly had started running towards them as soon as they had crashed. While no ordinary com would have been able to discern the IFF tags, most ordinary com systems didn't have Kalmiya piggy-riding them. She had detected the others of Blue Team the moment they'd entered the system, followed by their uninvited guests. After Blue Team's ship had been shot down, the newcomers had landed on top of a plateau, barely a few dozen meters from the crash site of the Bloodied Spirit. And, for some dumb reason, Blue Team had stuck around the crash site, and the unknowns had been able to surround them.

And now, Kelly, Kurt and the others were all running towards them. Mendez and Halsey were using the old Warthog the Threes had managed to hide, and they were taking a detour across a lot of dirt-roads.

Finally, Kelly managed to arrive at the site of the battle. It was, Kelly had to admit, a depressive sight. Over thirty soldiers of various species, mostly Elites Brutes and Humans, had surrounded a small cave, from which loud turret fire emerged. Despite the situation, Kelly smiled. At least Sam was still alive, or he wouldn't have let others use his turret. Like Jorge, Alice and Romero, Sam always preferred using a turret.

Kurt and the other Threes finally caught up. "We're being jammed. The ships on the top of the plateau are disrupting coms."

"We'll manage." Kalmiya said, using the speakers of Kelly's helmet. "Just do your part, Lieutenant."

Kurt nodded, and he took Team Saber, to the left of the formation. Kelly turned to the two remaining Spartans, Tom and Lucy. "You two, with me."

"We're with you, ma'am. Always wanted to see the fastest being alive in action."

Lucy just shook her head at her partner's enthusiasm, before nodding she was ready.

Kelly raised her Oathsworn, and ran towards the main force of assailants, although she kept a pace Tom and Lucy could keep up with.

The assailants were easy to spot: They wore Black and bright Yellow armor, and the yellow stood out. Strangely, the Brutes wore full body-armor as well, and they were more disciplined than usual.

But Kelly didn't pay it special attention. Kalmiya could do that, and she needed to help her friends.

That was when something unusual happened.

A Phantom gunboat flew over, and laid fire on the enemies. Then, as if by a miracle, the static lifted.

"Will, we need extraction! They're too much for us!" Fred said, sounding overwhelmed.

"I'm a little busy, Fred." Will retorted. "Namely, saving your ass!"

"Will, this is Kelly!" she called. "We're inbound, coming from North and West side."

"Kelly!" Linda called. "We're in that cave, with over fifteen hostiles. If you're going to aid us, you'd better do it now!"

Kelly frowned. There were still twenty five hostiles left. "That will take a moment. Your friends left a rearguard."

"Oh, these are _definitely_ not Friends." Sam said, hurried. "I'm not even sure Six would like them. And she likes psychopaths."

At this, they finally came into range. Kelly fired at the first, an unsuspecting human covering his teammates, a Brute and an Elite, as they brought up a pair of Spartan Lasers. The Human's backbone was shattered by the blast, and the man fell. Tom threw a Frag grenade at the Lasers, and Kelly saw, to her satisfaction, that the Brute died, and the Elite reeled back from the pain. Lucy jumped up, and snapped the Elite's neck.

Next, Kelly turned her attention to a charging Brute, who, surprisingly, wielded a pair of Energy Swords. Kelly countered the charge, by throwing one of the Plasma Grenades she had kept since the Ascendant Justice/Gettysburg, and firing at it as it passed the Brute's face. The Brute tried to turn away. Only to meet a DMR round fired by Lucy. Face to face.

Kelly nodded in thanks, and picked up the Plasma rifles the Brute had holstered. She put Oathsworn on her back, and fired away at a pack of Brutes that was making its way towards the Cave. To her surprise, a human was leading the charge.

But Kurt put a stop to it. He and team Saber had gotten to the top of the Plateau, and fired down on the group. The Brutes, surprised by the fact they'd been outmaneuvered, didn't stand a chance. They were cut down.

But then, a pair of Elites separated themselves from those attempting to take down Will's gunboat.

And Kelly, upon seeing them, instantly knew she was in trouble. For one, they had an increased physique, and seemed far more agile. For another, their armor was different from the other assailants. More advanced, more powerful.

And it looked nearly identical to that of the one they'd found in the ruins of the Eridanus hideout.

"shit." Kelly muttered, as the Elites started to stalk towards her. Both holstered their ranged weapons, and drew Energy Swords.

"You won't outrun us, 087." one said. "Your rabbit hole has been uncovered by the bloodhounds."

"Our true test of skill is at hand." its twin said. "Spartan Versus Cerberus. Speed versus Lethality."

after a pause, both raised their swords. "Time to die, Shaddock." they said at the same time.

At that word, Shaddock, she immediately felt lightheaded, and she suddenly found herself back in time.

* * *

 _27-08-2517_

" _Where are we going?" she asked, as she was put in an Albatross. None of the men or women responded._

 _She cowered in the confines of the small ship, barely larger than a dropship, as it led them away from her home world of Imber. There were fifteen of them, sitting in the hold: All children of similar age, none of whom she'd ever seen before. She didn't like them at first sight. She cried. She wanted to just go home._

 _After a moment, a young man with dark skin, and hair so short she could see his head beneath it, approached her. He held a tray with cups of water, and a bowl of sweets. The other men looked at him with surprise and disapproval. But the man didn't pay it any attention. He handed out the water, and gave each of them a few sweets. Kelly took it greedily. Despite the fact that a stranger was giving her something (And her parents had taught her to never accept things from strangers) she accepted it._

" _What's your name, little girl?" the man asked, as he sat down in front of her._

 _Kelly drank a bit of the water. "Kelly." she answered hesitantly. "Kelly Shaddock."_

" _Well," the man said, holding his hand out. "I'm Marcus Graves. The pilot of this sorry tug." Kelly wasn't sure, but there was something that sounded like sorrow in the man's voice._

" _Where are we going?" she repeated._

 _The man sighed. "We're going to Reach. That's all I'm allowed to say."_

 _Kelly nodded. She'd heard of Reach. It was supposedly one of the Galaxy's largest worlds, containing billions of people._

" _Where are my parents?" Kelly asked. "I was supposed to meet them. At the school."_

 _The man was only silent. "All I can say for sure is that they aren't here."_

 _Kelly looked down, thinking. "Will I ever see them again?"_

 _Graves looked down himself. After a long silence, all he said was this._

" _I don't know."_

 _but, just as Kelly was about to ask something else, an unknown voice called out._

 _Then, she suddenly recognized it, despite the fact it was from the future._

 _It was Kalmiya!_

" _Wake up! Kelly, Wake up now! For John!"_

* * *

Kelly suddenly got out of her referee. She saw the Elites were almost onto her, and she jumped away, throwing a grenade onto the ground so the blast would carry her farther.

Blast! Whatever those Elites had said had forced out a Flashback, a memory she'd thought lost, distracting her for precious seconds. Now, she was put on the defensive.

And she noticed she was losing ground fast! Immediately as she landed, one was onto her, trying to slash at her Throat. She ducked underneath it, but it adjusted its strike, going down at the last second.

She was only saved due to the fact she had stumbled, and fell out of the way of the strike.

Then, as she jumped up, the Elite tried to kick out her legs from underneath her. As she landed, she saw the Elite hadn't followed up. Instead, it were keeping its distance distance, though it did keep its eyes on her.

Then, she suddenly remembered something.

Its partner.

She fell forward, as she was kicked in the back. And, unlike with usual Elites, this blow actually threw her over twenty meters distant.

As she got up, she saw both of them were smiling at her malevolently.

"Impressive." the first said again. "I didn't expect you to recover so fast."

Kelly bit down on her lips. "I'm not as easily killed."

the other Elite's mandible guards shifted away, and, having seen Fol do so several times, she saw it smile. "Maybe. But the Master Chief's not here to save you now."

then, they both suddenly looked behind themselves, as two heavy objects fell to the ground. Kelly looked behind her assailants.

Sam stood there. His Minigun and Rocket Launcher on the ground.

And he looked pissed.

"And here I thought you guys were mercenaries."

"We are." the second elite retorted. "We merely hold nothing back. Not even memories thought forgotten."

Sam rolled his neck, and brought his fists together. "All the same, I want a piece of you guys now."

he grabbed the Kukri and his own combat knife, and took on a low combat stance. "And I'm not leaving without one."

Kelly, during this exchange, took in her surroundings, in less than a second. Kurt was leading the Threes against these Mercs, and they were put on the defensive as a result. Fred and Linda had managed to come out of the cave and were providing support, along with Will's gunboat.

It was just the four of them. As they'd said, Spartans against whatever these beings were.

Cerberus. That was it. No matter what, it was a name she would remember.

Then, one of the Elites turned to her, while the other raised his hands in a boxing stance.

"So be it." the First said. "Caldwell."

the Elites then stormed at them. And, as Kelly expected, Sam was temporarily frozen, stuck in an unknown memory of his past. Before her opponent got to her, Kelly managed two sentences before she was forced to fight.  
"Get out of it, Sam. For Six."

She didn't look to find out how her attempt went. She blocked the blows the Elite threw at her. And, she had to admit, this Elite was stronger than most.

Much stronger.

She blocked a swipe at her with his Energy Sword by throwing her arm against his.

Every bit of her speed was needed to evade the strikes. Every time she blocked, she was thrown clear, and she had to use all of her speed to even get up in time before he was on her again. As she evaded, her prompt had worked. Sam was beating away at his Elite. But then, the Elite took a direct hit to the head, and she saw Sam had used his full strength in that strike. Most Elites would be dead by now.

But this Elite only jerked its head to the side, as if he was merely slapped in the face. It tilted its head, and gave Sam a punch of his own.

Before she could see the full reaction, she was back to evading the blows of her own Elite. And he was catching up. While, if she was at her full strength, she might have been able to outfight him through her fast counters and quick strikes. But she had been exhausted from running, as there wasn't enough room on the warthog. And the exhaustion was getting to her.

She dodged another punch aimed at her chest, which she knew would have broken her ribcage. Then, her back bumped into something.

It was Sam.

"No good." Sam panted. "They have my strength, and your... speedy reflexes."

Kelly nodded. She had figured out as much. This thing adapted just as fast as she did, and could strike just as quick.

She then had an idea. A stupid one. One that could mean the death of both of them.

It was also something Six and John might have done.

"Want to trade?" she whispered to Sam. "My opponent for yours?"

before she got an answer, she turned around, jumped past Sam, and attacked his opponent. The Elite, obviously surprised, barely had time to block her punch.

And didn't jump away as she threw her last Plasma grenade at his helmet. It stuck.

Kelly jumped away, rolling with her fall before getting up. She turned around.

The Elite had managed to remove is helmet, and she could see he was heavily scarred, and, as the corpse at Eridanus Secundus, filled with implants.

But removing his helmet had sealed his fate.

The helmet was removed, and he had inadvertently turned the grenade to his face.

It blew up, the blast directed towards the face, and when the vapor cleared, two-third of his head was gone.

He fell down, finally dead.

She turned around. Sam had obviously gotten her intentions, as he was battering away at the Elite with all of his strength. And while the Elite was still faster, he had to get used to the more powerful blows.

And he didn't have the time for that.

As the Elite tried to strike at Sam with both of his fists, Sam caught them both.

And he smiled, as Kelly knew.

"My turn."

and with that, he got a better grip on the arms themselves, and he ripped the arms off with all of his strength, and hammered away at the stunned body. Kelly joined in, and they each landed a few punches before passing the body over to the other.

After a moment, it fell onto its back.

"I see I... underestimated... Blue Team. Rest assured... Cerberus... won't... make that... mistake... again."

and with that, it spat out a bit of blood, before its eyes closed. They didn't open.

Kelly sighed, as she grabbed her weapons, which had fallen during the scuffle.

"Your friends." Kelly started, as she felt her body shake from the exhaustion. That fight had truly taken something out of her.

In fact, it was the first true challenge to her speed she'd had since the Augmentations.

"Are they always this tough?"

"No clue." Sam answered, and he sounded just as exhausted. "We only met... about five seconds before you got to us." Kelly noted that he was leaning on one leg mostly, limping to his Minigun. Kelly put Oathsworn on her back, holstered the Plasma Rifles, and made her way over to both of Sam's weapons.

"I'll carry that." she said, picking up his Rocket Launcher. Afterwards, she put Sam's right arm over her shoulder, and heaved him up. "You've had a rough fight. You deserve a rest." she moved to pick up his Minigun.

But he beat her to it. "You had one as well. Come on. We'll limp back to the others."

and with that, after Sam had slung Kelly's left arm over his own shoulder, they limped back.

By the time they arrived at the others, the fight was over. The mercs, whoever they were, had been defeated. Kurt had seemed to be catching up with Fred, Linda and Will, who had gotten out of his stolen gunboat. Halsey and Mendez stood a bit back at that group, but were still close enogh to overhear. The others were searching the corpses for ammo and supplies.

As the two limped over, everyone looked at them. Fred rushed over. "What the _hell_ happened to you two?" he asked, as he got out a med kit.

It was then, that she finally noticed the extent to how Sam had been beaten up. His visor was cracked, his Chest piece was had multiple fist-sized dents in them, and his leg plate was bent.

"We got our asses kicked." Kelly answered for them. "Now, if you don't mind, I want to sleep."

Fred nodded, and he guided them towards the gunboat. As they got in, Kelly saw they had two crates with radioactive material in them. Knowing Sam, it were most likely nukes, as an insurance no one else would get at the tech.

Fred lay down a pair of blankets recovered from that cave, and Kelly lay down on one.

"We'll wake you guys once we're all rested and prepared." Fred said. "Until then, sleep."

and with that, he exited the ship through the grav-lift. Kelly sighed, and examined her own armor.

It wasn't in that good a state either. Her lower arm plates were as good as useless, as cracks and seams lined them, likely the result of her attempts to block the blows of those Elites. Her backplate, upon inspection, was also, literally, ripped in two from the kick. On top of that, the buckles securing the front plate to her body suit had been broken by a pair of strikes.

In short, the armor was a wreck.

Kelly sighed, and removed Kalmiya's datachip from her armor, inserting it in a datapad with a small holographic projector, for showing images. Kalmiya appeared.  
"Who the hell were those guys, Kalmiya?" she asked, gasping a bit as she moved a painful part of her body. "Because they are just as fast and strong-"

"As Spartans." Kalmiya finished. "I know. And beyond the fact they're connected to the corpse you found at the Eridanus base and with the ships in orbit, I haven't a clue what they are."

"There has to be something." Sam said, as he sat down and inspected his own gear. "No one makes beings like that without anyone noticing."

"I don't know, Spartan." Kalmiya persisted. "I suspect I have files detailing the general group, but nothing concerning how they were enhanced."

Kelly nodded. "Then that'll do." she said. "Bri-"

"Later." Kalmiya said. "As you said, you got your ass kicked. And if even a Spartan manages to get their ass kicked, they will need all the rest they can to recover."

Kelly wanted to argue, but Kalmiya was right: she was exhausted, bruised, and needed some sleep. She grabbed her Helmet, and put it under her head, serving as a headrest.

And, with that, she dozed off.

* * *

Halsey and Mendez stepped over to the corpses of the Elites Sam and Kelly had been fighting. She had watched the fight from a short distance, noting everything she could: the armor, the weapons, the voices.

And she was starting to get terrified.

These Elites, were it not for Kelly's sudden switch, would have bested them. They had everything a Spartan had: Speed, incredible strength, skill... they even used their pasts against them, using surnames that they likely had forgotten to make them hesitate in battle, and take them by surprise. Blast, one even had taken a direct punch from Sam without even reeling back. These beings, Cerberus, as she overheard, were dangerous. The most dangerous beings in the galaxy, likely.

She dreaded the day one would come for her.

She looked up, as Mendez approached her. He was, however, also looking at the corpses in concern.

"I'll admit it: These things are tough as nails." he said. "You saw what it took to beat them." he looked up.

"there are likely more of them out there, and we don't have what it takes to beat them all."

Halsey nodded. "As Conroy would say: 'You can't fight everything and expect to always be victorious'. We knew our Spartans would face Challenges."

Mendez looked at her, with disapproval evident in his eyes.

"Though I never expected anything like _them_." she admitted. "We need to get to Zone 67 before they do, and keep that tech out of their hands."

Mendez shook his head. "That's the point I'm trying to make, Doc: These things can best even _your_ Spartans. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if one even beats the Chief."

Halsey looked up, shocked by Mendez's confession. "You don't believe that."

"I do." Mendez retorted. "John doesn't have Kelly's speed. Or Sam's strength. And his infinite Luck won't be enough with these things."

before the doctor could protest, he held his hands up. "I'm not looking for a debate, Doc. I'm merely pointing this out: We need more men and people if we end up running into more of them, because we can't deal with this on our own."

Halsey, seeing his point, nodded. "We shall see if we ever do, Mendez. We shall see."

* * *

Halno Orthel'kee was pissed. Their attack on Blue Team, while going well in the initial stages, had failed. Over thirty Stormtroopers lay dead at that crashed cruiser, and two Cerberus units were dead. That left Halno with only nine Cerberus units, ten if he counted himself as well.

The ships had taken off after deploying the troops directly, and they were now in orbit.

Halno looked again at the map he had of the place.

That city, and its map room, had to be in the northern regions, somewhere. But the Buggers, or Yanme'e if you wanted to use the correct words, were unsuccessful in recovering data from the mainframe at the UNSC training facility located here. And so, Halno had retorted to using the ship's scanners to locate it. But so far, no luck.

Then, he opened a channel. The ground-side commander appeared.

"Sir, we have found Blue Team. They've all boarded the Gunboat, and are headed north. Should we intercept them?"

Halno was contemplating to let the commander do so at that exact moment. But he shook his head.

"They may have intel about this place we need. Have the _King's Manor_ track them from orbit. They'll lead us to the Map room. And to the Teleportation portal that provides access to Sarcophagus."

the Commander saluted. "Yes, sir." she responded, before she went along her task.

He turned to his fellow Cerberus unit and second-in-command, the Brute Lonugus.

"Ready the first Legion. I want them to keep the Map room secure. The second and third, once it's located, will move on the Core room. The rest of Cerberus, including us, will join them."

"Sure that's wise, commander?" Lonugus asked. "Putting all of the pieces in one place? If something happened, we wouldn't be able to explain all the losses."

Halno shrugged. "If this job is fucked up, we're all dead anyway. Do it."

Lonugus nodded. "Yes, commander."

and with that, Lonugus went on to do his task. Halno then turned to a console, and performed his own.

After all, if he wanted every advantage, it was best that he knew all his opponents perfectly.

Right down to their last names.

* * *

 **And so, The end draws near. Blue Team has encountered Cerberus. and now, they must find a way to survive... or die on this wretched, remote planet.**

 **Next: The Map room in the City, the retrieval of Katana and B170, and the final battle of the Control room. Where Sacrifices are to be made if we are to become immortal.**

 **Gharst Omenlumin.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm back. sorry if it took me long, but I had two things: A hell of a Writers block, and I just got back an old but very game I lost for a very old time: Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic. and a relic like that is to be tested, of course.**

 **Now, the usual disclaimer that I don't own Halo, and that I, once again request more Reviews. they've been becoming more frequent, and as some minor mistakes are pointed out, and praise to good work is given, I'd like to keep that up.**

 **Also, I'd like to give a thank you to Halo Machinima makers of TrigramsProductions, and their machinima Elites of War, as the Legion, and Cerberus, are heavily inspired by them. and I like to mention my sources.**

 **now, read.**

* * *

Halo: Ghosts of Onyx

Chapter 3

Legionary Armada F.O.B., Onyx.

Halno stood at attention, as the Legion High Commander opened a channel with him.

"Report." the leader ordered.

Halno swallowed, knowing what was to come.

"High Commander, I bear good and bad news." he started carefully. His next words could mean life or death for him and the others. "The Bad news is that we encountered Blue Team before we expected, and we lost thirty Stormtroopers and two Cerberus units to their Spartans."

Gharst nodded. "I accepted that risk as soon as I approved of sending them. And the good news?"

Halno slightly relaxed his shoulders, relieved he wouldn't lose his command. "We have confirmation that there is a Micro Dyson Sphere at the core of the Planet, in addition to the Shield world inner workings we confirmed upon arrival. Sir, we have our shelter if worse comes to worst."

Gharst leaned forward a bit. "Do we? The Master Chief's busy trying to shut down the ark, but in case he fails, we need to evacuate everyone. And those are a _lot_ of people that need to be moved."

"I understand, sir." Halno added. "But, if our readings are correct, the entire surface is larger than the orbit of the planet Earth around its sun. We could put in all of the people, and we wouldn't cover even 0.01% of the surface."

Gharst leaned back, before he nodded. "Secure it. Destroy the sentinels if they pose a problem, but ignore them otherwise."

"And what of the potentials for Operation: THERMOPYLAE?" Halno asked, curious. Recko would pay a _fortune_ to even gain possession of a Spartan's _corpse_. Who would know what he would pay for multiple live specimens?

"Only if possible, but not at the expense of Sarcophagus. If they're too bothersome, just kill them."

Halno nodded. "Understood, Sir. I'll get it done."

Gharst took on a serious look, and Halno was even more aware of the Assault Rifle the Commander always carried.

"See that you do, Commander Orthel'kee."

and with that, the respected yet feared Commander Gharst signed out.

* * *

Phantom Gunboat, En-Route to Zone 67, Onyx

Kelly woke up, as the ship jolted. She looked around.

It looked like the others had gotten aboard while she and Sam had been sleeping, exhausted from fighting those Elite Supersoldiers. They had loaded all their supplies, and were now making their way to what she assumed was the cache of technology Halsey was after.

She sat up, leaning against the back wall of the Dropship. The others kept mostly to themselves. Linda and Will were nowhere to be seen, likely in the cockpit of the Gunboat. Fred, Mendez and Kurt were catching up on events, and Sam, waking up before her, had joined them. The Threes were all busy inspecting their own armor or their supplies. And Halsey was busy repairing their armor, upgrading it at the same time.

Kelly saw that her armor, while repaired, now had a different look. The old EVA armor, while tough and light, was bulky in appearance, and it couldn't carry as much. But this armor looked... more streamlined, more durable. It also looked lighter than normal.

Halsey saw Kelly looking at it, as she worked on putting Sam's helmet back together. "I made a few upgrades to it while you slept. It's lighter, stronger, and allows for more maneuverability. It also takes up less space."  
Kelly nodded, and put the armor on piece-by-piece. After a few minutes, she finally moved to the Helmet. She noted that it was, like the rest, more streamlined.

"Where did you get the plating, Doctor?" Kelly asked. "Because not everything's from my own armor."

"We made a stop at an old storage facility." Kalmiya answered. Apparently, Halsey had already put the AI inside her armor. "It was the place Kurt kept the armor for the headhunters. Parts of it, including the visor of the helmet, were scavenged from there, and Halsey, _with my help_ , was able to cobble together a working suit."

"Cobble together?" Kelly asked, curious at Kalmiya's odd choice of words.

"The original stuff's even worse than Reach Armory systems." Kalmiya said, with obvious vehemence in her voice. "Nearly no gel-layer, no good com, no shields... It was one of many places Ackerson cut costs with this program. Only because Halsey moved half of the systems from your old armor to this stuff that it's even operable at all."

Kelly smiled. "I appreciate that."

She got up, and moved over to grab her weapons. Just as she added the last of the Grenades to her belt, Linda called out.

"Hey, guys? If you want a good view, come in here now."

Kelly, intrigued, moved into the cockpit. Most of the others tried to pile in as well.

And before them was a beautiful sight. A Forerunner city, somehow intact despite all the weather conditions. It consisted of many tall towers, most surrounding a large dome-like structure three kilometers across. The towers around it all were reaching up into the skies, and of some, even the sensors couldn't detect the top.

"Beautiful." one of the Threes, Mark, said to himself. Kelly found herself agreeing with him.  
"Bring us down inside that dome." Kurt ordered. "There's an opening on the east side. We can slip in there."

Will nodded, and he brought the Gunboat inside the building, landing at a central pad, with a stairway that spiraled down along the outside of the pillar it stood on.

Kelly, along with Fred, Kurt, Tom and Lucy, jumped out first, making sure their LZ was actually secure. After a moment of looking around, Kurt confirmed it, and the others followed suit. Halsey jumped out last, looking around.

The Pad itself was empty. And more boring than Kelly expected of Forerunner constructions. It was just a boring metal plate about a hundred meters in diameter, so plenty of craft could land on it. Kelly could spot a small gap in the floor where the stairs met the platform, but otherwise, the platform had nothing else. No landing lights, no lines for vehicles to park in, nothing.

"Let's head downstairs." Halsey said. "Maybe we'll find out where we are in this city, and where the majority of tech is located at."

The others either nodded in agreement, or complied anyway, and they all moved down, further into the building, down the stairs.

After about five minutes of walking after they left the stairs, they came to a small chasm. There was a rectangular hole in the wall opposite, indicating where they were supposed to go through. But there was a ten-meter gap between them, and there was nothing that indicated there could be a bridge below them.

"Well." Sam said. "This is a dead end. Unless anyone has a jetpack hidden somewhere."

no one did. So, most looked around, or moved further back into the hallway, trying to find another way. But it would be futile: Kelly hadn't spotted anything that looked like another hallway they could get into, and the stairs had dead-ended at this hallway. So, the only ways were either across the gap, or back to the gunboat.

She looked at the walls. There were a few indentations in them, but nothing otherwise that indicated it had been used.

She took a closer look at the indentations, an idea forming in her head. Linda had said that the controls of nearly all Forerunner tech were holographic. So, if this was forerunner...

she tapped one of the holes with her finger.

A control board appeared, and everyone looked up at the board. Kelly smiled, as she stepped aside to let Halsey look at it. She was the one with the most knowledge of Forerunner tech among them, and so, it made sense for her to be the one to interact with it.

She tapped a few buttons, and soon enough, a light-bridge appeared between them and the gap in the other wall.

"You go first." Will said, as Sam walked up to them. "If it can take the weight of you, your minigun and your rocket launcher, it can take on the rest of us."

"Ha-ha." he said, as he stepped onto it.

Slowly, and steadily, he walked over to the other side, expecting the bridge to short out at any moment. But, in the end, it held, and he reached the other side. After that, it was a short walk for the others as they made their way to the other side. Halsey took a moment to shut the bridge down again, in case their previous assailants decided to follow them.

As previously, it was a hallway with no other possible paths, and seemed like there was nothing else here.

But then, they finally arrived at a larger, circular. Its layout was simple: There was a small ring on the floor, and in the center stood a single console. For the rest, the room was bare, and nothing decorated the walls. There was a small light at the center of the ceiling, but the rest of it was similarly undecorated.

Halsey immediately strode over to the center console. It lit up as she approached. Kelly looked around for other exits, as the doctor went to work.

"This is... odd." Kalmiya said. "I expected that this building, due to the size, to have more formidable defenses, or more decoration. But there's nothing."

"Maybe it was never finished." Kelly said, though more to keep the conversation going than genuine interest. So far, she had found no other exits, and the hallway they entered through only led back to the gunboat. So, if they were assaulted...

"Interesting." Halsey said, and most people in the room turned to her. Halsey, oblivious, continued. "This console... the readings I'm getting here..." she paused. "I think this is something similar to the map room Cortana found on the first Halo."

"Show me." Kurt told her. Halsey obliged by touching a few controls. Moments later, a hologram appeared, showing Onyx. Kelly noted that a single area brightened. Halsey zoomed in on it.

"I can confirm it's real-time. So this" she zoomed further in on the region. "is out city, which seems to be called-"

"We've got a problem." Fred said, as he pointed to the area above the city. Halsey zoomed in on it, and Sam let out a heated curse that made even Mendez blush.

It were the ships of their assailants. And they were all headed for the dome.

"Doctor, find us an exit, and that cache we're here for." Kurt ordered. "Fred, take the Threes and secure the hallway. Linda, Will, Kelly: you're with me on guard-duty with the doctor, and-"

"Wait." Halsey said. "I'm detecting new signatures. Most are in the city, a few buildings away and underground, but one..." Halsey paused, and her face took on a confused expression. "This can't be right."

"Spell it out, doc." Mendez urged. "We're not as smart as you, and we're short on time."

Halsey nodded. "I'm detecting a slipspace signature _inside_ the planet's core. Which is impossible. Unless..." she trailed off.

Kurt turned to the doctor. "Ma'am, all due respect, but can you just get us out of here? This is a dead end, and we likely have an army of mercenaries and supersoldiers knocking on our doors. Unless it helps our exit, just stow it and get us out."

Halsey nodded. "Fortunately for us, the Forerunners used an odd form of transportation." she pressed a few buttons, and the screen changed. Just in time for Kelly to see an explosion at the Eastern entrance.

"There goes our gunboat." she rhetorically noted. "Your exit's our only hope now, Ma'am."

Halsey just kept on typing, and after a moment, she smiled. She pressed a final button, and something else appeared.

A Portal.

"Namely, teleportation. Which I can control now, too." she finished her explanation smugly. "We're taking a minor detour to the other signals, but our main aim is that signal near the core. I have reason to believe that the cache we're all looking for is down there."

Kurt nodded, as he saw Fred and the others return.

"We've blocked off the hole near the chasm, sir. The controls did more than just activate a bridge. But that won't stop anyone carrying a jetpack and a decent Rocket Launcher, though."

Kurt nodded. He then stepped towards the portal. "Any advice in stepping through?"

"If it's in any way similar to the teleportation network on the first Halo," Linda answered. "just hold on to the contents of your stomach."

Kurt nodded, and he stepped through. The others all followed similarly. Fred and Kelly went last, making sure the doctor could shut it down after they'd passed through. After the three of them did, there was a momentary white flash.

The next, they found themselves in a large room, and Kelly found herself becoming very nauseated by the second. After a moment of recovering, however, it passed. She saw Fred was still hunched over, though, despite the fact he'd stepped through first.

"You're welcome." Kalmiya said. "I helped you regain your focus faster, and helped you ignore the nauseating impulses on your brain."

Kelly smiled appreciatively. "Thank you. Remind me to raise your pay by 50%."

"That still leaves me with no salary at all." Kalmiya said.

"That's the point. It's a joke."

"Oh." Kalmiya said. "Bitch."

Kelly smiled. "Can't come up with a better insult?"

After receiving no response from Kalmiya, she looked around. It was then, that she noticed that there were a lot of pods in the room, dozens of them. The others had already recovered by the time the little exchange between Kelly and her AI had ended, and were looking around.

She took a closer look at the pods. They reminded her of something. Something she knew she should recognize, but it just didn't come up.

Then, just like with the memory of Six' Spartan tag, Kalmiya supplied the image, and Kelly saw what it was.

The Forerunner equivalent of a Cryopod. It looked different, and had very different mechanics, so it likely used something else to suspend the occupants. But the purpose was the same none the less.

Halsey, apparently, saw this as well. Unlike her, however, Halsey instantly saw the mechanics of the pod's inner workings.

"Stasis pods." she said in wonder. "The Sovereign Colonies have mastered similar tech for medical and mining purposes. But they have nothing _this_ advanced, though."

Kurt moved over, and tilted his head at one of them.

Then he reeled back in surprise. "This one has a human in it."

Kelly and a few others moved over to look, while others continued inspecting the pods. Indeed, there seemed to be a human in it. And not just any human...

"Is it just me, or does that look an awful lot like a Spartan-III?" Sam asked, as he pointed. "Look at the head. It's just... too blank, too featureless, to be an unarmored human."

Kurt nodded. He then looked at Halsey. "Doctor, any way to get them out?"

Halsey nodded. "There sure has to be a way to remove them. However, first I will scan the other pods, to see how many contain actual people."

in the end, after a minute of checking, only ten pods had occupants. Halsey pressed a few of the controls, and after a moment the hatches of said pods opened. The others moved over to help.

As Kelly moved to help the one closest to her, she recognized him.

B170, the Spartan trainee alongside Six. She grasped his hand, as he carefully raised it to block the light of her armor's flashlight.

"Spartan B170?" she asked, as she helped lift him out of the pod. The man nodded, though he stood a bit straight. Likely cramp, from being still for so long. Kelly grabbed her Assault Rifle and the ammo for it, and handed it to the man.

He was neither tall nor short, likely because he wasn't augmented yet. He had green eyes and blond hair. He also had, to her surprise, a scar running from the top of his brow to his cheek, ending just at the jawbone. He was still in the jumpsuits she knew all Spartan trainees had worn during their stay here, as observed in a few of the logs. One of his boots was missing, though.

"What's the situation, Ma'am?" he asked, his tone serious despite the fact he'd just been pulled from stasis. Kelly decided to oblige the man.

"We're underground on Onyx. There's a large group of Mercenaries and Supersoldiers, coming down to the core of the planet to recover a cache of technology superior to what the Covenant has." she paused, preparing herself to break the ice. "The year's 2552, and the war's turned for the worse. I'll explain in more detail once there's more time, but in short: The Covenant's in the middle of a civil war, an ancient alien civilization, and a parasite that opposes it, have recently been uncovered, and been destroyed. Reach has already fallen, and the Covenant knows where Earth is. This cache could ensure Humanity lives to fight another day."

B170 nodded. "I'll give my life to get that Tech in the right hands, Ma'am." he said, as he recovered more and more. "The name's Jason, by the way."

Kelly nodded. "Well, Jason." she pointed at Kurt. "Your superior's waiting for you."

the man followed her arm, and upon seeing the Lieutenant moved over, and saluted.

Kelly moved to look around the room, waiting for the others, B170 and the members of Team X-ray (4 members, apparently) and Team Katana (5 members) were caught up, before she gathered around Halsey with the others.

Time to go to the core room.

* * *

Map Room, Forerunner city, Zone 67, Onyx

Halno looked around, as he stepped into the Cartographer room.

He had, upon ending his communications with the High Commander, had sat out to find the Spartans first. For, despite his initial confidence, he had no idea how he would get to the core. And so, he had followed the Spartans. Or, more accurately, Doctor Halsey.

Halsey was a miracle worker, apparently, when it came to Forerunner tech, as their spy, Lieutenant Haverson, had indicated. As such, Halno suspected that Halsey would find the way for them, and they could just follow in her footsteps. And so, the Spartans would lead them to the core of the planet, and they could rip the fruits of the Spartans' hard labor right out from under them.

As he stepped in, he saw their Cerberus technical specialists at work with the central console, while twenty Stormtroopers stood at attention at the back walls.

"Any progress, Fixer?" he asked one of them, a Brute with abnormal intelligence for their species.

"A lot, Commander." the Brute answered. "This is, as expected, the map room. But, it's not merely a map."

he pressed a few controls, and the view changed.

Instead, showing this very map room, while the Spartans entered, and just moved a bit around.

"It's a surveillance system, as well." Fixer said, zooming in on the controls that Halsey pressed, as she activated a Portal. "And it recorded all images concerning how to activate the portals."

Halno nodded. "How long until we gain access to the core, and Sarcophagus?"

"Three minutes at most." he answered. "However, we discovered something else. Something Gharst will want us to stop from the inside."

he changed the view, and the image zoomed out, until it showed an image of the planet itself. It then rapidly zoomed in, until it showed the Core room, where the portal for Sarcophagus waited. The portal was shown as well.

"This was the portal yesterday." he said, pointing at the massive Slipspace-hole into Sarcophagus. He then pressed a button, and it was accelerated to real-time. "This the portal _right_ _now_."

The Portal, once 150 meters tall when it first opened, had gradually shrunk down, until it was about 15 times as small as first.

Halno swallowed. If the portal closed before they could get there, they would have nothing. No shelter for their people, no bunker to hide out the ark and the Flood. No new cache of tech inside.

"How long until the collapse?" he asked quietly, as all knew the implications of the shrinking of the portal.

"At this rate? Thirty minutes, tops."

Halno nodded.

"Activate the portal on the pad, and put all our vehicles, artillery pieces and battalions there. Get us all to that core room, and follow us. Whether Blue Team is there or not, we will get inside and reopen it for the Legion."

Fixer nodded, and he went along with his task.

As he got out, Halno raised Lonugus. "Change of plans. Get everyone on the large pad now. In a few moments, a portal to the core room will open, and I expect resistance."

"Right away, Sir. But what's the hurry?"

"The Portal to Sarcophagus is shrinking. We have less than thirty minutes until it is closed, and cannot be opened from the outside again. You know what that means."

"Yes, Sir! I'll put everything down on that pad. Not even Blue Team will stop us." Lonugus said more urgently.

Halno nodded, and prepared his weapons, his Shotgun and Carbine. _It was time to go hunting._

* * *

Core Room, Center of Onyx

Kurt helped Sam put his turret in place in front of the portal. He, along with the Threes, had found the portal shortly after Halsey had transported them from the pod chamber to the core, where they'd found the portal. Then, upon arrival at the entrance, it had suddenly shrunk a meter, in front of their eyes. Fred, knowing they had the Mercenaries on their tails, had suggested that they stayed put for a few moments, to delay the enemy as long as possible, before entering just as it was about to close. Then, even if one or two managed to follow them in, they could easily be disposed off. Even if it were the enhanced soldiers Sam and Kelly had fought. Of course, they would have to find a way out once it was done.

 _But one problem at a time._

They were in a precarious position at the moment, should the mercenaries attack us. They had both advantages and disadvantages. The advantages were that they were at the top of a hill, had superior cover, and ideal firing positions. Also, about thirty supporting pillars of Forerunner steel encircled the central platform the Portal was located at, meaning they had ample cover. The disadvantages were that, after the encounters with the Sentinels, the mercs, and the redistribution of arms upon discovery of the sleeping Spartans, they were running low on ammo. Also, there were over dozens of teleportation pads all around them, meaning the enemy could attack them from all sides. Also, the enemy was likely to have vehicles as well, indicating they practically outgunned the Spartans.

Kurt looked around, at the current composition of their defense.

Sam, Jason B170 and team Katana had the front covered, as they carried the weapons best suited against vehicles. While the core room was large, the hill took up so much space that only one side offered enough room for vehicular deployments.

Fred, Linda, Tom, Lucy and two members of team X-ray had the right flank covered, as they were all perfectly mixed up for covering their flanks, with both shotguns and sniper rifles in the mix. While there was no room for vehicles, there was a long hallway at their side that could be used to bottleneck the enemy.

The left flank was being guarded by Will, who was leading team Saber. There wasn't anything special about that area. While originally spacious, there were a lot of boulders there that could be used as cover by the enemy, and, if left unattended long enough, to get entrenched in. And, since they didn't want the Mercs to get entrenched, Kurt had some of the best guard that area.

The last area was guarded by Kelly and the last two members of team X-ray. That area was mostly blocked by the back wall of the room. But the AI Kelly carried, Kalmiya, had noticed a few ventilation vents ended in that area, and could be used to ambush the Spartans. And, since Kurt didn't want to leave their backs unguarded, he left Kelly and the X-ray members there to guard it.

In the center, right in front of the portal, sat Halsey and Chief Mendez with the nukes. Will, upon leaving the gunboat, had been smart enough to carry the two bombs with him in case they failed to stop the enemy, whoever their allegiances lay with, from getting at the cache of technology. And so, after Halsey had surmised the cache lay beyond the portal, they had set her and Mendez up there, as they were the most likely to get hit, as neither had anything of Spartan armor. Of course, Jason and X-ray had no armor either. But they were young and combat ready, and had a lot of energy. And Mendez, while combat trained, was about in his Sixties, and not that fit for combat training.

They were about twenty six or twenty seven minutes away from the portal closing, when the enemy finally appeared on the pad in front, where the vehicles could be placed.

And they immediately showed they meant business. Four Scorpion tanks and four Wraith mortar tanks led the column, as they exited the teleportation pad. They had the usual colors, but Kurt could easily see the emblem he had seen earlier on the soldiers he'd fought. The one of a shield in the background, an Elite skull with a bullet-hole in it in the foreground, and a pair of combat knives as crossbones in between.

They were followed, and immediately flanked by, the black and yellow soldiers he'd fought earlier. They were of all species: Brutes, Elites, Hunters, Grunts, Jackals, Skirmishers, and, to Kurt's surprise, humans as well. Their armor was, in appearance, just scavenged armor from previous engagements, but just restored to prime condition and painted in their colors.

In the end, after nothing came through, he saw one hundred and fifty three soldiers. And that was before he'd lost count. There were also numerous Warthogs, Revenants, Ghosts and other vehicles among the mix of tanks. Apparently, they had no qualm with using human weaponry, marking them as no-Covenant members.

A group of ten soldiers stepped forward, and Kurt swallowed. These, three Brutes, three Elites and four humans, were taller and better built than their fellow soldiers. Also, they seemed to be wearing upgraded armor. And with the humans, Kurt recognized to his dismay, it had many similarities to Spartan armor.

The rest of the supersoldiers Kelly and Sam had fought.

The leader, an Elite supersoldier whose appearance had many similarities to Ultra armor, though much thicker, stepped forward. "I am Commander Halno Orthel'kee, Leader of the forces of the Legionary Armada in this system." he started. Upon hearing the words Legionary Armada, Kurt saw Halsey take on a distressing look. He made a note to ask her about it, once this was over. He would know the truth, ONI be damned.

"I have a simple demand." the Elite continued. "Step aside, and let us take control of Sarcophagus, or die as we overwhelm you through superior numbers and firepower. The Choice is yours."

Kurt had an idea, and he stood up. If he could get them to talk, he could buy some time for them, and the others, to evaluate their forces, and delay the fighting. He hoped that, if it started later, they wouldn't have to fight as long, and _might_ not run out of ammo in the meantime.

"I'm Lieutenant Commander Kurt Ambrose, leader of the UNSC forces here. Is there a way we can discuss this like gentlemen?" he asked, as he looked at the mission timer. 21:47:98 until the collapse of the portal, and six since the army had started to pour out of the teleportation pad. He would be more than happy if he could get the fight to start with less than fourteen minutes left. Any time he bought would be used to their advantage.

"There might have been one once." Halno said. "But it perished when you killed over thirty of our men. Not to mention, two Cerberus units as well."

"They attacked us first." Kurt pointed out. "We were just investigating a supply cache left by our allies, before you ambushed us."

"True. But we want complete control of this world. And the UNSC, or ONI to be more precise, would never allow that."

Kurt started thinking. They likely were after something else as well. Sure, they wanted complete control, but they might have been able to work something out once they controlled the city in Zone 67. and that city, while valuable, wasn't worth the entire planet for ONI, as valuable as the technology is. So, there was likely more to this world. Something they hadn't discovered yet, but the Mercenaries had, and the Mercs wanted it. Apparently, they wanted it badly enough that they were willing to engage over twenty Spartans of both Programs in order to get at it.

And that cemented in Kurt's mind that they couldn't let this world fall to their hands.

"Are you so sure?" Kurt tried. "We might have been able to work something out, you and I."

Halno shook his head. "No, _Trevelyan_. We couldn't have."

Kurt, despite his efforts not to, found himself in another flashback.

* * *

 _UNSC Charon-class Frigate Iron Fist, Orbit over Talitsa_

 _01-08-2525_

 _Kurt sighed, as he talked with Allison over the last details of their mission. They had discovered evidence of the presence of a second Insurrectionist colony, which most people called Troy. ONI had wanted it eliminated, as with the recent discovery of, and war with, the Covenant, they couldn't handle another Venezia. And so, HIGHCOM had asked him and Allison to handle it. They had a lead on someone who could take them there, and, since they didn't have the coordinates of the place, they were dependent on his help. And so, someone in ONI, by the name of an ensign Osman, had arranged for a meeting, where the man would take them to the place, and where Kurt and Allison could wipe out the leadership and disorganize the insurrectionists. Then, they would activate a beacon, revealing the colony's coordinates and allowing for pickup. And ONI would bombard the planet to dust, wiping out the traitors._

 _Unfortunately, a message at the last minute had ordered that Kurt report to Chi Ceti, for something called Mjolnir. He, at first, had had no clue what it was, but he heard from Halsey that he, and all other Spartans would wear it. Allison had, with Cassy's help, discovered it was some sort of power-assisted armor, and had shown some of the others, including Will and Sam, a few drawings of it._

 _But they still needed a Spartan on Troy, and so, Allison, the one looking forward to it the most, was going to miss it. True, it had been due to a drawing of straws, but he was still sorry that it had to be her that had to go._

" _I'll be fine." Allison assured him. "I've dealt with Insurectionists before, remember?"_

 _Kurt chuckled. "I'm more worried about you using too many Molotovs, since you likely won't be able to get your hands in Incendiary grenades."_

 _Allison laughed, and she tried to cover her mouth. He saw, however, that once it went away from there, her hand subconsciously went to the burn scar she'd gotten at Emerald Cove, when she and a few others had caused an inferno inside a cave, and she'd jumped into the fire to save a fellow trainee._

" _I promise, I won't be using those. If I do, I won't hear the end of it from you or Fred."_

 _Kurt laughed as well. "Be careful down there." he said, as she closed the hatch of the Pelican she would be using. She turned the ship around, waved at Kurt, and blasted off to the surface._

 _Kurt never saw her again._

* * *

She had been killed in that mission. She had been missing for three months, before ONI managed to recover footage that seemed to indicate she had been ambushed, and cornered in a warehouse. Then, a random shot had apparently hit a gas line running through the building, and it had exploded. And, although no body had apparently been recovered, they had seen no one walk away from that building. So, it was a good assumption that she had died. For a long time, Kurt had felt responsible for it, as he should have been there to help her. But Sam and Fred had asked him to come along on multiple missions with Blue team, and had shown him that he had done everything he could do, and that he wasn't responsible for her death.

Allison had been the first Spartan-II to ever be killed in action. Fred had taken the blow the worst, as he and Allison had been inseparable since training. As such, he had been given most of her stuff by his fellow Spartans and other staff members who knew her well, like Mendez and Conroy. Only one thing couldn't be found, however: her lighter, one of her most prized possessions. Fred had initially been sad it hadn't been found, but they later surmised she had taken it with her as a good-luck charm.

But then, before he drowned further in his thoughts and memories, he forced himself back to the situation at hand. His talking with the Elite and his mercenaries.

Which were likely more than mere mercenaries, he realized. They had too many resources, and were too well armed to be a small group of pirates. Also, the armor the supersoldiers wore was too advanced to have been merely scavenged. Not to mention the supersoldiers themselves...

No. they weren't mercenaries. They merely pretended they were. Which meant they were something else. A new power in this galaxy.

And one likely with an ulterior goal and motive.

He looked at his mission timer.

17:14:91. Good. Four minutes had past since the Elite had uttered the word Trevelyan. But Kurt couldn't figure out why it had induced that flashback.

Likely something from his path he surmised. But the conclusion he drew from that stunned him.

For that kind of info, they had to either have hacked the ONI, or stolen Halsey's journal. And since the Journal had been destroyed on Reach, that meant it was the former.

Which meant they had spies _within ONI_.

He started to take these soldiers a lot more seriously.

"What do you want with this world?" Kurt asked, to bring the Elite's attention to him instead of the shrinking Portal. "What is it you want that cannot be shared?"

"Technology." the Elite said, as he stepped forward. As one, the army behind him followed him. "We want an edge on the powers that be. And we can't get it if you acquire that tech. Which means you need to move."

"There's more to this world than mere tech." Kurt said, as he raised himself a bit. "Otherwise you wouldn't have brought an army here. As much as that Tech could help you, at the moment you are outmatched by over twenty Spartans. And mere tech isn't worth a fight with us. Which means there's more to this place."

he stepped forward, out of his cover. "So, I'll repeat my question: What is it on this world that you want that can't be shared?"

The Elite tilted its head, as it took another step. "Impressive thinking, Trevelyan. We want multiple things from that portal, and I admit, most of it can likely be shared."

Kurt looked at the timer as the Elite talked. 15:45:78. _They just might make it._

"Shelter." The Elite continued on. "Resources. Land for our people to live. But what can't be shared is the favor of its _Guardians_." he paused. Kurt noted the army had spread out, some backtracking so they would enter either the hall to Kurt's right, which was covered by Fred's team, or the vents, which were covered by Kelly. Another group had split off to the left, where they would encounter Will's team.

But the majority stayed with the vehicle column. Kurt noted to his dismay that, while he was reliving a flashback, the majority of the supersoldiers had split off to join one of the two groups that would try to encircle them. Only three, two humans and the Elite he was speaking to, had stayed with the column.

"And one of the Guardian, while... _tolerant_ of other species, doesn't take kindly to Humans. And the other is too dormant to stop him. And so, we need to kill him."

He raised his rifle, a Covenant Carbine. Kurt looked at the timer. 14:59:21. He had bought seven minutes. It would have to do. He slowly backed away into cover.

"And ONI would never have the gut to kill said guardian. And so, you need to be eliminated."

Kurt made it to cover just in time, as the Elite started to fire, and the rest, including the tanks and soldiers, opened fire as well.

The battle for Onyx had begun.

* * *

Sam continued firing the turret from the alcove. The barrage from the Scorpion tanks had been stopped, as Jason, with a lucky Rocket shot, had hit the fuel supply of one, and the chain reaction had wrecked it to a scrap heap, and severely damaged the others. Still, that left the Wraiths to deal with, not to mention the dozens of other vehicles.

He saw one of the Brute supersoldiers, flanked by half a dozen of the 'stormtroopers', as Kalmiya intercepted, storm up the hill, covered by Warthog fire. If they made it, they could tear this line apart.

And Sam couldn't allow that to happen.

"Kid, take the turret." he said to one of the Katana Spartans, as he grabbed his SMG's, and fired at the Stormtroopers. Three fell before they spotted him, and two more were hit before his shields started to blare. Sam dived back into cover, as he reloaded. As he jumped back out, his shields half recharged, he saw that the Brute supersoldier was almost on to him, and he cursed. Even a normal Brute was at least half a challenge for Sam. And this enhanced one would surely give him a hell of a time. And not in the good way.

He was saved, however, as two of the Katana Spartans aided him. One tried draw its attention away, as he fired on the Brute with one of the Plasma Rifles he was borrowing from Kelly. The other physically placed herself between Sam and the Brute.

But the Brute, not to be outsmarted, smacked her away, and she hit one of the pillars, hitting it head-first. He saw blood on the wall where her head had hit, and the crushed back of her helmet, showing bits of skull.

And brain.

The Brute, not to waste time, immediately turned on the other, and raised a Shotgun. The Spartan tried to jump away, but he was too slow, and caught the full blast to the chest. The SPI armor, not built to withstand such a blast, blew apart, and some of the shrapnel of it, in addition to the shotgun pellets, tore into his chest, ripping it apart. Even if they got him to Halsey, Sam knew he wouldn't make it.

Sam, his shields fully restored due to the time the Spartans had bought him, jumped at the Brute, spearing him. Due to the force of the blow, they both fell down, and Sam gave multiple punches at the Brute's head, breaking the shields due to the force of the first punch. As expected, the Brute didn't flinch or die, as the rest of his kind would from those punches. It merely jerked its head back in pain every time Sam's fist connected with it.

But he had learned his lesson with the first Elite, and he aimed for something else.

Namely, dislodging the Helmet.

As soon as it came loose, Sam gave an uppercut, stunning the Brute for two seconds. He got up, and raised one of his SMG's at the Brute. He saw, with satisfaction, that the Brute looked up in distress upon seeing the weapon raised at his face.

Sam held down the trigger, until the weapon clicked, indicating it was empty. The Brute didn't move.

Sam turned back to the battle at hand, picking up the Plasma Rifle his comrade had dropped. The Stormtroopers, looking in awe at the display, momentarily stopped firing.

But only for a moment. And now, they all focused their fire on Sam. He was about to dive into cover, when he was suddenly grabbed by the wrist, and pulled back. Sam looked at the one who'd grabbed him.

And cursed, despite his shock. It was the damn Brute. _How the hell did he survive a full burst to the face?_ Indeed, his face was ripped to shreds by the bullets, and he thought he even could see a small hole where a bullet had pierced through the skull and into the brain. But it stood, although unsteadily.

It didn't need to be steady, however, to raise its shotgun at Sam's face one-handed, holding Sam's right hand in the other. Sam's left was behind him, and would never connect with the Brute's face in time before it could fire. It smiled.

And fell, as a blast from a Rocket slammed into it. It was ripped in two by the explosion, and it fell down. Sam used the opportunity to dive back into cover, before the army below could hit him. He looked at his rescuer.

Jason stood there, holding a smoking Rocket Launcher, one he'd gotten from Sam. He smiled, as he started to reload it.

And was promptly stuck with a small plasma grenade lobbed by one of the Stormtroopers, as it flew over the cover, and stuck to Jason's shoulder. Jason threw his head back in exasperation, before it blew. The body and Launcher were thrown in Sam's direction by the explosion, and Sam saw the other rockets, three left, hadn't exploded from the detonating plasma. However, Jason's head was gone. Just a cauterized stump remained where the neck and head used to be. The arms and back, in addition, were burned to a crisp, and the rest of his body smoked from the heat of the grenade.

Sam cursed, and picked up the rockets and Rocket Launcher. He looked at the timer.

07:56:24. they still had to hold out a bit longer.

Sam didn't think they would make it, however.

There were only two Katana Spartans left, and they were in bad shape. One was limping, and clutching her side. And the other, though still firing the turret, had lost her lower left arm due to an Energy Sword slash. The human stormtrooper who had done it lay dead at her feet, cut in two by his own sword.

But he saw Shock was starting to set in, as she was shaking. And she was focusing her fire, aiming mostly at the central column.

Then, a shot from the side hit her in the head, and she dropped, dead. Sam cursed, and made his way over to her. He grabbed his turret, took a second to fold the stance, and turned to the attacker.

Apparently, Will's line was faltering, as the attacker was a Brute Stormtrooper who had slipped past. Sam fired away at it with his turret, and hoped the others at least did better.

* * *

Kelly loaded the last of her shells into the shotgun, as she and Kurt fired at the Stealth troopers hiding in the vents. The Supersoldiers, which had taken on a command-role in this battle, had called for their troops to activate Active Camouflage systems, to stay in the vents, and to continuously fire at them. Due to the tactic, they stayed out of range of close-range weapons, mostly anyway, and were still able to assault them. Kurt had joined them later on, when it became apparent they were running low on ammo.

But the Cerberus supersoldiers had adapted, and had used either flank, of both Wills and Fred's sides, to sneak up on them.

And they were wearing them down. Kalmiya did everything she could to enhance Kelly's reflexes and response times. But they were outnumbered, and the heavy, unrelenting assault was wearing them down fast.

One of the Cerberus supersoldiers, a human woman, approached her, her weapons holstered. She raised her fists into a boxing stance. "Time to see which of us is better." she said with a Russian accent.

Kelly rolled her eyes, and raised her shotgun. "I learned my lesson at those caves. I don't waste opportunities."

And with that, she fired two shots at the woman, all she had left.

Surprisingly, her shields barely shimmered. The woman depolarized her visor, and she was smiling. "Not so tough now, huh, Shaddock?" she said mockingly.

Kelly merely put her weapon on her back plate, and raised her hands in her own combat stance. If she was lucky...

She was. Kurt fired at the woman with his weapon.

Fred's Spartan Laser. The woman was blasted a dozen meters back, and when she finally stopped, her chest had a smoking hole. And power flickers sparked across her armor. But, to Kelly's surprise, the woman managed to raise herself onto her hands and knees, although unsteadily. Kelly immediately grabbed the pistol an earlier killed Stealth trooper had dropped, and aimed at the woman's head.

"Dodge this." she said, as she pulled the trigger. The woman's head took the bullet, and she dropped. Kelly was about to turn away, when she saw the woman was still moving. How in hell was this possible?

Kurt, seeing it as well, groaned, and charged the laser again. As soon as he was able, he fired again. This time, the woman flew into the wall five meters behind her. And this time, her head was gone. Kelly was satisfied he wouldn't rise.

But she was again forced to fight, as one of the Stealth troopers reappeared in front of her, an Energy Sword raised to strike down at her. She rolled to the side just as it was brought down. She jumped up, and aimed the pistol at the Elite's head. Just as he swung at her again, she fired three shots, all aimed at the eye. The first weakened the shields. The second pierced them and hit the armor. The third hit in the eye slit, and it fell, doubling over backwards. Kelly then looked around.

Her mood soured more and more. The two members of team X-ray were dead, killed by headshots, although it seemed each had taken a dozen down with them in their final moments, as all were surrounded by bodies. Her timer showed they still had a little over three minutes to go before the portal shrunk down into nothingness. And Kurt-

she immediately ran over. He had managed to take down another of the supersoldiers, an Elite. But, in its final moments, it had embedded an Energy Sword into Kurt, starting at the shoulder and collarbone, and going down, until it was nearly at the kidney. Damn, it was a damn miracle he was even _standing_.

Kurt pulled out the Energy Sword, and threw it to the ground. He then pulled out three biofoam canisters, and inserted them right into the wounds, bypassing the armor ports. He managed to stagger to his feet.

"Fall back." he managed. "Fall back to the center."

Kelly raised her pistol, and managed to get Kurt's arm over her left shoulder. She helped him back to the nukes, and put him down, making him lean against it.

Fortunately, some of them had arrived earlier, and they had managed to put down Deployable Covenant energy shields stolen from the dead Stormtroopers.

Fred ran to them, and he pressed a button on his wrist. Immediately, the area around them blew, and half of the pillars collapsed. Kelly, along with Sam, started to look at him.

"I stole some C-12 charges from some of those soldiers, and placed them on the pillars. That'll buy us a few moments."

A Wraith blast hid their improvised Barricade just as he finished that sentence. "Not for long." Linda noted. "We took quite a few casualties. Our members of X-ray are dead, and Tom and Lucy are exhausted. Also, we have little in the way of ammo."

"I'm a sole survivor." Sam noted. "Had to deal with three of the Supersoldiers, two of which are still walking. Still plenty of ammo, but I don't want to waste it when they'll barely die."

Then, the three members of team Saber finally came running. Two clutched their sides, and one was limping, a wound in his thigh.

"Our side got hit hard." the leader, Ash, reported. "Half of us are dead. Will got ambushed by a pair of Hunters, and the rest were shot by Snipers hidden between the boulders near the back. They all hung back, hitting us from a distance too far to kill them. Meanwhile, Stealth troopers snuck through the boulders, and ambushed us when they were behind us. We've managed to get the ammo of the ambushers we killed, but it's not enough to hold out here."

Kurt nodded. He turned to Halsey. She immediately nodded.

"The Nukes were primed ever since you got that daze back during the negotiations with their leader." Another blast hit the barricade, and Kelly saw, to her dismay, that the pillar started to crack. She looked at the Timer.

01:59:00. They still had to buy a full two minutes. She looked at Sam immediately. He got the idea, and he got on top of the barricade, firing with his SMG's down onto the massing armies below.

"Sir." Kalmiya started at Kurt. "You're injured. Your Lung's punctured, your Ribcage cut , your collarbone and shoulderblades cut... Do I need to go on, Lieutenant Commander?"

"No." Kurt answered. "I know I'm dying. As a matter of fact, the Biofoam's the only reason I'm still sitting upright. Do me a favor, and ignore the rest of the injuries. Mark, give me an Assault Rifle."

At this, Mark handed him the Assault rifle in his hands. Kurt, once he had it, turned to Fred.

"Fred, as I'm dying, and you all need someone to lead you once inside, You're receiving-" he gasped for a moment, as the pain started to seep in again. "A Field Promotion. Congratulations, Lieutenant, Junior Grade Fred." he said, and Kelly saw he changed the status on the Active Duty Roster as well. Fred, however, protested it. "No, Sir. You'll come with us, and-"

"Don't bullshit me, Fred. We both know I'll die in a few minutes, no matter what. Now, do me a favor, and get out of here alive."

Fred seemed like he was about to protest the fact. But he dropped it. "Yes, sir. It's been an honor." and with that, he moved to the portal.

The surviving Threes said their goodbyes first, and after half a minute, the timer saying 01:23:38, they all went through the portal, barely three meters in diameter now. Mendez was next.

"I know I trained you, and you are one of the best men I've known." Mendez paused, before he patted Kurt on his unhurt shoulder. "Give 'm hell." and with that, he jumped through as well.

Halsey stepped forward, holding a datapad. "The detonation codes. Transmitting now. And... done." she paused, her throat caught. "I'm glad I got to see you one more time, Kurt. How brief it might have been." she walked over, and Fred helped her in.

Sam walked back down from the pillar, and handed Kurt the SMG's, before he took the Assault Rifle. "Here. As much as you want to, you're in no condition to hold it." Sam paused, searching for the right words. "Send them out with a bang." he walked away, carrying his turret and Rocket Launcher, and stepped through as well.

Which left Kelly, Linda, Fred and Kurt.

* * *

Kurt smiled, as he saw Linda and Kelly step towards him.

"You were a good leader, and could be a member of Blue Team any day." Kelly said. "Allison would be proud of you. Don't doubt that." Kelly gave him a Spartan smile, and stepped away, into the portal, which had shrunk to a size of two meters. Fred stepped away for a moment, and threw a grenade over the barricade. Kurt listened with satisfaction, as screams of Stormtroopers hit by shrapnel came across the room.

"You were a fine squad leader, sir." Linda said. "Even if you were as stubborn as John."

"My stubbornness is equal to his?" he joked. "I must have done well."

Fred and Linda laughed. Probably the last laugh they shared. "Indeed." Linda then stepped away, and they both knew that if she didn't, she would die with him.

With that, Fred stepped away as well, and they were about to step into the portal.

When that blasted Cerberus Leader, Halno, landed right in front of him. Kurt looked at his timer as he stood up.

00:04:01. only four seconds to buy. He could do that.

Kurt threw the Spartan laser he had, and it hit Halno in the head. It bounced on the ground for a few times, before it came to a stop in front of Fred's feet, who had heard the commotion. He picked it up, and he jumped through.

00:02:54. two seconds. The portal was barely a meter.

Halno recovered, and he stood ready to jump. Kurt tackled him just as Halno's feet left the floor. He missed, and fell to the floor. He got up, but it was too late.

The timer read 00:00:00. The portal was closed. Kurt smiled. He had bought them the time they'd needed.

Halno quickly turned to Kurt. And his stance told he was furious. Good.

"What have you done!" he roared, as the rest of the soldiers caught up with their leader. They all stared at the spot where the portal had been. So far, they hadn't noticed the Nukes. "That was Our shelter! Our defense against the Flood! And _you_ robbed that from us! You will die a gruesome death for this!"

Kurt chuckled, as he finally gave in to the pain the biofoam had been holding off. "Die?" he managed between painful gasps. "Didn't you... know? Spartans... never... die."

and he detonated the nukes.

The last thing he saw was a flash of white.

* * *

Onyx, a world consisting mostly of rough terrain, forests placed and maintained by now-deceased UNSC forces for the purpose of giving the Spartan-III's more training terrain, and deserts, started to crack. The core, destabilized by the explosions of two FENRIS nukes, broke apart, and the rest of the planet started to crack. Unlike modern Science-Fiction stories, instead of a large explosion, the planet simply shattered, the continents shook apart by the destabilized and shattering core. Any orbiting satellites were destroyed by the debris, and the rocks flew away from the place they'd previously inhabited. The three ships of the Legionary Armada, caught unawares, were destroyed by the storm of mineral rocks that were sent their way, each ten times as large as the ships themselves.

After half an hour of the rocks flying away from the place they'd previously inhabited, they settled. The Zeta Doradus system lost a planet, while gaining a new Asteroid belt. Onyx was destroyed.

unknown to to anyone observing, however, was that a small Slipspace anomaly had survived the destruction. and it flew off, to places unknown, eager to leave the asteroid belt.

* * *

Shield World 006, AKA Sarcophagus, inside Slipspace anomaly

It observed, as the reclaimers exited the portal. They all came one at a time, at the last moment, as the Portal collapsed mere minutes later. In total, eleven of them had exited, two normal humans past their prime, five slightly enhanced humans and four extremely enhanced humans. The enhanced all wore some sorts of power armor. It was easy to decipher the encryption of their armor, and soon, he had identification tags: LTJG Frederic-104, PO1 Kelly-087, PO1 Sam-034, PO1 Linda-058, Lucy-B091, Tom-B292, Ash-G099, Olivia-G291 and Mark-G313. The unarmored humans, however, weren't as easy to identify. On top of that, PO1 Kelly-087 had an unknown evolved Ancilla inside her armor. He'd withdrawn immediately upon detecting it.

He observed, as they grabbed a few twigs and stones, and made gravestones in honor of those that had fallen. He risked a short teleportation to get a closer look.

He arrived just after they finished giving their fallen a few words of honor.

"So? What now?" the unidentified human male asked.

"We move on." LTJG Frederic-104 said. "There's still a cache around here somewhere. And we need to find it, even if the deaths of our comrades has been very recent." he paused. "Kurt would have wanted us to move forward."

"Indeed." the other unidentified said. "And, as I surmised earlier, as we're in a Micro Dyson Sphere, we're unable to call out for pickup. So we're stuck here until we discover a superluminal communications array."

LTJG Frederic-104 nodded. "But for now, lets just find shelter."

the others nodded, and they all went moving, apparently in the approximate direction of Atmospheric Control center 5638.

He sent a query to him, asking whether to kill them or let them be.

 _Negative._ The presence commanded. _Others will come, meaning they aren't at their mightiest. Let the others come, and then, once they're all together, they will be exterminated, and this shelter will be pure again._

It nodded, satisfied with the answer.

The Promethean Knight Teleported away, to a destination unknown.

* * *

 **And so, the fate of the others of Blue Team is sealed, as they are locked in the Dyson Sphere. I'm sorry if this is shorter than my usual stories, but I was extremely bothered by my writers block, as I only had a final goal prepared, and not the means. still, I promised I would write my version of it, and I keep my word. after all, if you don't have your word, what do you have?**

 **Anyway, as compensation, I will write four epilogues instead of the usual two to compensate. In it, a lot of surprises will be revealed. Gharst manipulates colonies to join his cause, burning them behind their backs. Graves receives an unexpected but _very_ welcome ally. and, the duel Great Schism ended with is finally concluded. and so, Cerberus is shown. **

**for the Legion**

 **Gharst Omenlumin**


	4. Epilogue 1: Eternal prisoner of choice

**As promised the first Epilogue. As promised, three more are to come.**

 **Now, read.**

* * *

Halo: Ghosts of Onyx

Epilogue 1: Eternal prisoner of choice.

* * *

"We are all prisoners in this world. It's time to set the wicked free." - _Legion High Commander Gharst Omenlumin_

* * *

Location: Sangheili colony of lemer seqesg, Covenant Space

Date: 06-03-2549

Elder Rikatee moved around in his tower, as the ships entered the planet's atmosphere. He was uneasy. Councilors he'd known for decades were disappearing. Their colonies all fell to the marauders that had been plaguing Sangheili space for years. He didn't know who they were, or who they owed allegiance to, but they were dangerous. For he'd noticed that under the guise of these raids, ships have been disappearing for decades. And, if he had his math right, that number was now over a thousand. More than enough to challenge the Covenant Armada if it wished. For while the Covenant may have seemed strong, it kept losing ships to these raids and the effort of the UNSC.

And to the blind urge of the Sangheili to gain honor, of course. The worst example he could make of that strive for honor was when over three hundred ships had been lost when Admiral Cole lured them in range of a star, and made it go nova. All hands were lost in that engagement, and it had made clear to Rikatee that much needed to be changed. Hence, why-

He heard a sound. While he should be alone in this room.

"I know why you have come." He said to the shimmer he could see from the corner of his eye. He turned to it. "You need not hide your assassins."

Indeed, a figure decloaked itself. But it was the last person Rikatee had expected to see here.

Gharst Omenlumin, disgraced Fleetmaster of the Covenant. Now, as word would have it, a mere mercenary barely making enough income to eat. Clearly, the rumors were wrong.

Hiding his surprise, he gestured at the field outside, where his young sons were playing in the field. "I just ask you to not harm my sons." They were his dearest possessions. His legacy. He would not risk losing them.

Gharst, still silent, nodded at a figure to his right. A Sangheili in black-and-red Spec-ops Armor that was heavily modified appeared next to him, deactivating his active Camouflage. A twin of it, both wielding human shotguns, appeared on his other flank.

"There is nothing I can say that will change your minds, that is clear." he said, his voice gravelly with age. "My fate is sealed. But I accept it." He held up his hand to forestall any reply.

"But before you enact your duty, may I ask you a question? I know you think nothing of honor. But take pity, and honor an old fool's last request."

Gharst nodded, and the odd soldiers cloaked themselves again. Gharst approached him.

"Pity is earned, not given." He said. "But I do have a few minutes to spare. Make them useful."

"Thank you." Rikatee said. "Tell me, was it worth it?" he was taking a gamble here. The rumors about Gharst seemed to be wrong, and clearly, he made enough to not only modify his own armor, but that of the people he hired. And they stayed loyal enough that they actually obeyed his commands. If that was true, he could for that account also be the leader of the marauders that had been raiding Covenant space. And Gharst would have been the one that murdered all those councilors in revenge.

"Was the time, the effort of tracking them all down, worth it?"

Gharst pondered that, before he answered. "I have spent the entire war considered a failure to the entire Covenant. There wasn't a day, when I was not beaten, and humiliated in front of all. I watched my men die. I watched myself be broken, day after day!"

He was raising his voice now. "The only thought that kept me alive, fueled me, was the thought of their fall. When they would lose their power, and I could use them just as they would use me." He paused. "I did just that. Their deaths bring me closer to my goal. Their colonies fund my armies. So yes, the time spent on tracking them down was well worth it."

Rikatee looked at his old friend, and what he had become: a monster. He had heard that Tulam'ee's entire family had been killed by the marauders, and now that Gharst had confirmed that he was responsible for all their deaths, Rikatee knew Gharst had lost his sense of morality concerning any obstacles, and only saw them as beings he could use.

Still, something puzzled him. "So, it was not vengeance you sought, but resources?"

"Where once I commanded seven thousand strong, now I command seventy million." Gharst answered. "Do you think I can afford to waste time on _petty revenge_? No. their colonies were rich, and I needed them. The fact that those fools were greedy enough to personally oversee their growth, only made so much more worth it."

"If you do not seek revenge, but resources, why have you come _here_?"Rikatee asked. "I command no soldiers, have no power. Why have you come."

"During my tribunal, you were hesitant in your decision." Gharst answered, and he tilted his head in curiosity. "I like making a spectacle for my troops. They enjoy the theatrics. Tulam'ee's death was by far my best performance." He paused, composing his words. "My soldiers deserve entertainment. But I need a script on which to act upon. _You_ are an enigma to me."

He then looked Rikatee in the eyes again. "So tell me: why have you hesitated?"

"You are a crude and efficient warrior, Gharst." Rikatee told him. "I do not blame you for what you have become. When you stood before us then, I did not see what I see in front of me now. I hesitated because I believed that your actions had not affected the invasion. I saw no treason, no deceit. I did not agree with the rest. But nothing I said changed the outcome."

He glared at Gharst. "You speak of prison? I was stripped of my rank as well. I was cast out." he gestured to the near-barren world around him. "Why do you think I am _here_ , and not back on Sanghelios?"

"More excuses do not grant you retribution."Gharst said. "I do, however, have another question for you. If you could go back, would you change your decision?"

"I might not have a spot on the Council. But they took away my rank, not my honor, Gharst!" he yelled. "No, I would not! I will stand by my decision I have made! I Will stand by the Path I have carved for myself! I stand by my choice!"

He took a step towards Gharst. "Now why did you come here if not to kill me?"

"I needed to see your eyes." Gharst answered. "I needed to see the pain in them. I wanted you to say it. Now look into mine." Gharst stepped forward. "What do you see?"

"What in the Great Beyo-" he started, but Gharst didn't let him finish.

"LOOK INTO THEM!" he demanded.

Rikatee stared for a moment. After a moment, Rikatee, couldn't figure it out. "What do you want from me?" he asked, confused. It was clear Gharst wanted something from him. But what?

"War is coming to your worlds." Gharst answered, in a warning tone. "Star sectors will fall before you! Stars will burn out! Worlds will turn into glass, and when the smoke clears, the shattered pieces will need guidance." Gharst pointed at his chest, and Rikatee was starting to get unnerved by all this.

"You are a Historian." He continued. "Tell me: What will happen when the Covenant Falls? What will happen to all your peo-"

"They are your people too." Rikatee said.

"No."Gharst retorted. "My people are above us, in the ships. _They_ are my Legion. _They_ are my Soldiers. _They_ are my _Family_. You are a prisoner of your own choice, Rikatee. I am giving you a chance to escape this prison. To redeem yourself before your gods."

Rikatee was getting more nervous by the minute, with Gharst's rant. _What in the nine Ibie'shan hells was Gharst talking about?_

"Run. Hide. But when the war passes, the one after the Human-Covenant war, Sanghelios will need guidance. She will need wisdom and hope of salvation."

"You speak of madness!"Rikatee retorted, though he didn't feel as confident as he sounded. "What have you seen?" he started taking a few steps back. "Have the gods cursed your mind? You are insane!"

"I have seen the dark path that is ahead of us."Gharst answered. "I have seen the storm, the flood of it. The Darkness. And it is coming here, Rikatee." Gharst raised his Human-made Assault Rifle, aiming it at Rikatee. "This is your last chance. Take your sons, and hide. My soldiers will not stop you."

Rikatee stepped back, eager to get away from the mad Sangheili. "You speak of madness. May the gods have mercy on your soul." And with that, he ran off, gathered his sons, and ran, into the fields. Gharst trailed him outside.

* * *

"I have no soul!" he called out after him, before letting out a maniacal laugh. He then went back inside, and activated Rikatee's personal computer. He activated his com. "How did I do?" he asked.

"The look in his eyes when you started the 'madness' rant." Recko said, as he decloaked as well, before letting out a laugh. "Priceless. Killing him would be easier. But I can't deny the entertainment value."

Gharst let out a laugh of his own. "Now, I believe you owe me something."

Recko's expression turned serious, and dismayed. "Hey! We agreed _only_ if he screams out of fear _and_ runs off did you get your share."

"Well, he did run, didn't he?" Gharst retorted jokingly, before returning his attention back to the computer, and the database it contained. "I expect it to be delivered to my quarters once we get back to the ship."

Recko sighed. "Next time, _I_ make the rules."

Gharst chuckled, before he pressed the final button. Jan appeared on the console. "Jan, is the uplink ready?"

"Connection established." Jan answered. "Data's being transferred now." He paused. "So, who won?"

"Does it really matter?" Recko tried to dismiss Jan. "We have a job to do."

"oh hohoho." Jan laughed, satisfaction filling his voice after winning the bet as well. "So I get the other half, right? I _told_ you you would lose this one."

"Sorry, what? I can't really hear you. Com is getting kind of choppy." Recko said, as he moved his finger to the button to silence Jan.

"Don't you da-!"Jan started, but Recko pushed the button, and Jan was silenced. Recko turned to Gharst. "So. Anything useful?"

Gharst looked through the summary of the data. "Most of these archives are about the known Forerunner Ruins and Tech. The rest are mostly poems regarding 'the god's will'."

"Do you really think he will hide?" Recko asked.

"Not at all." Gharst answered. "Dispatch three telemetry monitoring units into low orbit. He will spread the word of war, and he will put his own religious spin on it. Still, the people here will be prepared for what is to come."

Recko nodded. "I'll dispatch a few Cerberus units. The last thing we need is religious activists gunning people down in name of their gods, least of all here."

"I want all names of his followers." Gharst said, "Along with all their Bank accounts and-"

At that point, Gharst was interrupted by one of their communications officers. "Sir, incoming slipspace signature seventeen thousand kilometers from the surface."

"Fleet's ready to fire." Jan said. "Five seconds until visual. Three, two-"

At that point, a signal interrupted him. "This is Fleet admiral Lumier of the third Colonial Fleet. Hold your fire. I mean no harm." A French man interrupted Jan. After a second, fifteen ships rounded the planet's orbit, and came into visual of Gharst's fleet.

"Hold your fire." Gharst immediately ordered. "They speak the truth. All units, resume priority objectives"

"Copy that. Powering down guns." Jan acknowledged. The other legionnaires sent out similar affirmatives.

Gharst turned to the admiral, who had appeared on his own console as well. "Stand by Admiral."

"Copy that." Lumier said, as he nodded.

Gharst turned to Jan, who had reappeared. "Jan?"

"You approved them four days ago." He answered. "They meet the specs and ship design. Fifteen ships total."

"Fifteen Ships." Gharst said. Calculating in his head. "Admiral, what is your Cargo capacity?" he asked after a moment of silence.

"A little over four hundred thousand tons, Sir." Lumier answered. "And thank you, commander. Thank you for your assistance."

Gharst nodded, before returning his attention to a new potential commander under him. "Admiral, your fleet will be detained and escorted to a processing Sector. I assume Agent Solomon has debriefed you on the situation?"

"Yes sir. We are purging all known system coordinates of data right now."

"I will send a shuttle your way." Gharst said. "I would like to meet you in person."

"Understood, Commander. Thank you for the opportunity. Lumier out." He said, as he disappeared from the screen. Gharst turned to Jan.

"Jan, Have a fleet sent to escort their ships, and have Cerberus scan for any anomalies. Run a general scan of their systems, as well."

"Already on it." He answered.

"Your plan had better work." Recko said.

"Our friends have lots more to lose than we do." He reassured him. "And-"

He was interrupted, as his personal AI, Hades, alerted him to something he found in Rikatee's computer. Gharst looked at it. He smiled. "I think we've found it." he said. "Jan, do you see it?"

Jan looked over the data. "Some scroll holo's. But how did he get it? I thought all these were destroyed during the Contact War."

"Siphon it to our research station, and run another Profile check on Rikatee. If he managed to retain a part of the lost Archives, then chances are there are more. Maintain connection, Jan. I want every bit of that data analyzed." He turned to Recko. "Wrap it up down here." He said, as he moved off. "I have a fleet to buy out."

* * *

Three hours Later, Legion Flagship The Redemption.

Gharst stood in his impromptu Throne hall, as he and Lumier moved to Greet each other. Gharst held out his hand for shaking, and after a moment, Lumier took it. Officially, their species were still at war, with Humanity being driven towards extinction. Yet, here they were, Lumier in his Admiral's uniform and Gharst in his Field-Marshal armor, cleaned for the occasion, greeting each other.

How little Lumier knew he was being tricked, even right now.

"Admiral." Gharst began. "I am glad you took upon our offer."

"It was hard to Refuse, Commander." Lumier answered, his French accent noticeable. He was a short man, even for a human. He was Caucasian, bald, and had a thin, typical French Mustache. And yet, he carried himself as a man of Authority, even here.

"We have been under constant attack for months by UNSC Blockade ships. I would like to thank you once more, for the assistance you've provided us, and the opportunity you've given us."

"I must be frank, Admiral." Gharst falsely confessed. "Our presence in your sector was not intentional. As far as we knew, you didn't even exist."

Gharst paused, to let that sink in. he pretended that, even without knowing him, and knowing his species and the admiral's species were at war with each other, he had helped him from 'the goodness of his Heart'. If the Admiral knew the Truth, he would likely grab his sidearm and shoot Gharst on the spot. But he didn't, and so, Gharst continued the façade.

But, if he was honest, he could use every ship he could get, with the situation at the Sovereign Colonies slowly getting out of hand. And even with over a Thousand ships at his command, he didn't know if he would be victorious.

Not against this foe.

"A small Colony on the outer reaches of Human space, beyond your usual boarders." Gharst continued. "What made the UNSC go to such lengths to blockade such a lightly populated Planet?"

"I wish I knew, Commander." Lumier answered. "But we had not received any warnings. Our cargo ships and orbital stations were… to put it simply, shot down."

"Did you retain the Data on our fleet?" Gharst asked.

"No." Lumier answered. "As you ordered, all data even hinting about your presence has been erased. Solomon Kaiser was very clear about the terms."

Inwardly, Gharst sighed in relief. They could still remain hidden, for now. They still had a few months to gather more forces, as the war was drawing to its conclusion. And when that happened, Gharst and his Legions would be there to rise from the ashes. But still, he needed to be careful, and so, measures such as these were taken.

He needed every hour that he was unknown to the masses at large.

"Good, Admiral." He said. "Good. Now, on to business. You know that once you've made it, the decision is final. There is no leeway, no alternate terms. I must warn you, Admiral: We tolerate no treason, nor disloyalty. Once you accept my offer, there is no going back."

"Commander." Lumier started. "I watched Civilian ships being shot down. I saw Agricultural stations being blown out of the sky. Machines be damned, but they killed innocent people. I wonder why. For what?"

"What makes you think we do not do the same?" Gharst challenged.

Lumier took on a disinterested expression. "They won't be _my_ people, Commander. They won't be mine. Hence, I feel no guilt towards them."

Gharst was pleased with this answer. So long as his civilians were safe, he would have Lumier's loyalty. Also, the man would likely execute any order Gharst gave, yet still capable of taking initiative and creative thinking. Good. He could use that. Still, he had to keep up appearances. "Admiral, that's a heartless statement." he stated with false shock.

"Then I am a heartless man." Lumier retorted. Gharst nodded in acknowledgement.

"The UNSC won't leave your world alone. There's only one solution: Complete evacuation and relocation." He paused. "I will provide security and transport detail."

Lumier thought that over. "We have no other place to go, Commander. Even if we could evacuate them all, where would we stay?"

"That will be your decision. Consider it… a choice. Your Fleet, your soldiers, your loyalty, and your word. In exchange for the safety of your civilians, and a new world to call home. Our world."

"But what about our homes, our lives? Tiaranthan was our home for decades." Lumier persisted.

"What is the population of your world?" Gharst asked.

"Roughly three hundred and fifty thousand." Lumier answered, surprised by Gharst's change of tac.

Gharst turned to a holodrone. Jan appeared from it. "Jan, how much of the housing on Phoenix is complete?" he asked him.

"Kyoto's 26% complete, Commander. We can accommodate the colonists there."

Gharst nodded, and the Holodrone deactivated. He turned his gaze to Lumier. "There's your answer, Admiral. I assume there won't be a problem with your government?"

"No." Lumier answered, relief evident in his voice. His people would be safe, and he would no longer have to worry about them. They had a future again. "I am the only one left in our line of succession. Our parliament suffered a great accident due to terrorist suicide bombers a few months ago. There were no survivors." He paused, his voice showing his grief at the hardship his people suffered for months.

Indirectly at Gharst's hand.

"It dealt a devastating blow to us. And with the UNSC Blockade… Commander, I will do whatever you need. No one else came during our time of need. Your offer exceeds _any_ expectations."

Gharst nodded. It was fortunate this one, for all his tactical skill, was so short-sighted. He didn't wonder why the UNSC would blockade his world when they were being brought to the brink of destruction by the war with the Covenant. He didn't wonder why, when all seems lost, suddenly, miraculously, a group of mercenaries would suddenly come to their aid. Maybe he would wonder about it later, but for now, he didn't think it through.

"I am glad you see reason, Admiral. Commander Yan'shu" he pointed to the Sangheili in Red General armor, the one that had let Lumier in, and would be the liaison between Gharst and Lumier in the future "will bring you up to speed, and provide your people with all they'll need to evacuate and relocate to Phoenix. I will divert all ships I can to ensure the safety of your people during transit. He will also help you fill out all the necessary paperwork that may be needed for enterprises such as this."

Lumier nodded. "Thank you, Commander. We are proud to be a part of the Legion."

Gharst knew they needn't worry about any anti-alien mongering from these humans. Lumier had seen first-hand how Brutes and Elites saved them from their own government that was supposed to protect them. Gharst knew Lumier's people would get along with the others they'd rescued without trouble.

Gharst watched, as Lumier and Yan'shu walked away, both discussing the finer details of the alliance between them. He walked to his desk, and raised Recko.

"Recko, I expect my winnings to be wrapped up nicely." He said with satisfaction. He knew Recko was sour after losing _another_ bet to Gharst.

On only the first day the three of them started betting on different outcomes.

To make it even worse for Recko, _he_ was the one that brought the idea up with Gharst.

"Is it wrong for us to bet on things like this?" the man asked him.

"Was it not your initiative to create such a betting pool?" Gharst asked, rubbing salt into the wound.

"I did not expect you to win every single bet in one day!" Recko retorted. "That's a bit too much, even for my taste."

But sure enough, Recko transmitted a nice Check Gharst could withdraw from the Main Legion Bank. He read it over.

 _Operation: "Snake Pit"  
Status: Complete  
Expenses: 15.000  
Bid: 79.000  
Unit Salary: 35.000  
Bonus: 5.000  
Profit: 15.000_

 _Transferred to: Legionary Armada High Commander Gharst Omenlumin_

 _Signed by: Legionary Armada High Colonel Gregory Recko Junior_

"So."Recko said after a moment. "Shall I call off the UNSC Brigands?"

"Not yet." Gharst answered. "Pulling them out now would be rather suspicious. Make them keep their distance from our fleets. Ask them to make a few potshots at the Transports to make it look Authentic. Promise them double pay for… _believable_ maneuvers. Dispose of them all afterwards. Wipe them out as soon as the last of the Colonial vessels has left."

Gharst had to admit, Jan's plan was genius, and had worked out perfectly: Hiring UNSC Pirates to blockade a world for a few months, making it look like the UNSC was turning on its own colonies, then showing up to save the day, gaining the loyalty of the colonists in exchange for continued safety. And eliminating the pirates afterwards was no difficulty. The only bad part was that they would lose a few thousand credits every month due to hiring the pirates. But, considering the trillions they now had, it was no real issue.

"What about this place?" Recko asked from Rikatee's tower. "Shall I deploy the mining teams?"

"Negative." Gharst answered. "Leave this place be. Finish with the Data and get me the facility."

Reck nodded, and signed off. Gharst then brought Jan up again. "Jan, which unit will be eliminating the Pirates?"

"Cerberus unit 1.9.4." he answered.

He brought up their service record:

 _Unit 1.9.4  
Completed Contracts: 16  
Customer Satisfaction: 97%  
Profit Percentage: 70%  
Unit salary: 75.000 Standard rate  
Bonus: 9%  
_ _Lost Operatives: 0  
_ _Promotion: Pending._

Gharst considered it for a moment, before he changed _Pending_ to _Granted_. He closed it, and turned to Jan.

"Increase their pay, and classify their Contract terms." Gharst ordered. "Once the evacuation is complete, I want you to send down Mining teams to Tiaranthan. Strip the Planet of all Tier 6 Resources, Catalog all indigenous wildlife, and take samples back to Phoenix, enough to clone and inevitably continue the population of said species. That will satisfy the Colonists, and make them more loyal."

"Will do." Jan said, as he signed off. Gharst brought up another pair of reports that was sent his way. Both were interesting… in their own way. Gharst could only hope his suspicions about Phoenix' true nature would be proven Correct, as the First report told him they had discovered his last resort

 _Probe report_

 _Tactical Data: Retrieved, Primary objective: completed, Secondary Objective: Completed  
Requesting Satellite Data for Following Coordinates: 12, 56, 74, 23, 567- Full Scale Scan (FSS) _

_Target: Forerunner Installation  
Type: Selective Targeting biological Weapon (STBW)  
Codename(s):  
Halo, Installation 03_

 _Units En Route: 3_ _rd_ _Stormtrooper Legion, CU 1.4.3_

So. They had found one of the so-called Rings. The ones the San'shyuum always wanted to find. Gharst would find it interesting to find out what was discovered there. Still, he had to be careful. They had already recovered data indicating that on every Halo, the same could happen that had happened on Aegis VII

And he would be damned if he caused it. He had already lost 6 Cerberus Units and over a hundred Stormtroopers to it when they found it and dumped it there. They would not lose anyone else.

He brought up the second report, which was of more immediate value, considering his recent business with Lumiere.

 _Tiaranthan Contract_

 _Requirements:  
Tiaranthan Colonial Parliament: Terminated  
Colonial Fleet: Acquired_

 _Assets acquired:_

 _15 Combat Vessels, various classes  
Tactical Marines (Pending number)  
368.981 Colonial Refugees_

 _Losses:_

 _45.000 Credits  
(Deposit for Rogue UNSC Pirates)  
(Are to Be terminated upon Full Evac) _

_Contract Status: Pending_

"With this influx of workforce and resources, we should be able to double our exports and speed up the construction of the Trains connecting Kyoto to the other cities." Gharst mused. He then turned to Hades. "Get me Phoenix online." He ordered.

Hades complied, and after only half a minute, the Sangheili Fleet Admiral Krata appeared. He was the one in charge of the construction of the living quarters of civilians, and the one in charge of the defense at the same time . "Phoenix Garrison Reporting, High Commander." He told Gharst.

"Expect additional Colonists to arrive soon, Fleet admiral. That should satisfy your need for new workers."

"Of course, High Commander." The Sangheili reported. "We are bringing the Primary systems online. The larger, more Permanent Orbital Defense Turrets have been partially assembled. A few more months at most, and the First Fleet can continue the routine Raids."

"Any other matters, Fleet Admiral?" Gharst asked.

"There are a few… issues, High Commander." Krata admitted. "We detected an Info leak from one of the Contractors we hired. We were able to contain the leak and began investigating it."

"Cease investigating." Gharst ordered. "terminate their employees planetside and send black-ops to the Contractor's HQ."

"Should I buy them out?" Krata asked.

"No. Simply… _substitute_ their CEO. Reward those who agree to the terms, and… _assist_ those that do not along."

"Understood, High Commander. We have been experiencing a few issues with power grids. Plasma Transfer is sluggish. New Plasma tubes would increase the output, and we are currently directing all new tubes to the dry-docks' power stations. A few civilians have also reported a lack of hot water and electrical failures."

"Civilians are our primary concern." Gharst immediately said. "Make all necessary arrangements, Fleet Admiral Krata. They did not leave their homes just to trade one hellhole for another." He paused, composing a message to Jan as he talked. "High Commander Coldrun will deliver the necessary tubes at the earliest possible time." He paused. "What is the overall status of Phoenix?"

"We have Terraformed most of the continent," Krata answered "and begun to uncover more ruins, likely Forerunner in origin, though we stalled at studying them beyond that hypotheses. Oxygen levels are at norm, and Shield Levels are holding steady. Legion HQ has undergone additional changes. We are also furnishing the new academy."

Gharst was pleased with that last part. Regardless of the threat seen at Aegis VII, he needed to think Long-term about the continued existence of the Legion. And that required more Stormtroopers. And since the Legion civilians appreciated them, and Cerberus, so much, what better solution than an academy to train future potential aspiring recruits?

"Kyoto's residential area's complete," Krata continued. "and most of the infrastructure has been placed. With additional workforce, I'm sure the TrainRails will be able to connect Kyoto to Cape town within a month, give or take a few weeks."

"Make sure no detail's overlooked." Gharst ordered. "I will inspect it personally _when_ time permits it. I expect the full report will be sent to my Flagship."

"Yes Sir." Krata said, raising his fist in a Sang'Katarn salute, showing his origins. "Krata, signing out."

And with that, his image disappeared.

Gharst, pleased with the progress, moved to another image. One Recko and his Cerberus soldiers had recorded. It was of the thing they had encountered. And, with the intel they'd recovered about the Spirit of Fire incident with the Shield World, they were sure.

Though their enemy was of the same origin, Gharst was sure, this was a new variant. One evolved to perfection, without necessary oversight of a Gravemind. And yet, even the Gravemind had evolved on that planet, due to an unseen new Evolution unique to the Aegis system. One that corrupted everything, and drove men mad. It mutated those monsters to a point that… Gharst shuddered at the thought, and immediately stopped it. They didn't have the resources to take it out, even with all the people Gharst had at his command. Even the Jiralhanae Kronos would have trouble taking even one form down, as would Gharst's Jiralhanae lieutenant, Rothmus.

It was a wonder the Sovereign Colonies still were in that bloody system, despite the vast riches Aegis VII _alone_ offered.

"Every means of escape for you has been cut." Gharst goaded, as he looked at the thing, a former human. It was mostly the same as an ordinary Combat form, but it resembled a human more than the ordinary variant. In lieu of Tentacles coming from one arm, it had Spikes coming out of both Wrists. It had decayed to the point it could be taken from an nineteenth Century Human Graveyard, and yet, it had taken the lives of so many Cerberus Soldiers.

"Every means of infecting others with your vile curse has been eliminated. Soon, the Sovereign Colonies will bury you, and Aegis will be history." Gharst boasted to himself with false confidence. It wouldn't do his men any good if they saw him looking at that thing in fear. They needed a strong leader, and a strong one wasn't paralyzed by fear.

"I'm ready." He lied. "Are you?"

The image fully materialized, showing the face of a deformed Human, the face twisted in agony.

Gharst shuddered, before the fear got hold of him again, and shut the image down. He went about to reading the full Phoenix report.

* * *

 **So. Something has managed to spook Gharst, and make the man that willingly tricks entire colonies into serving him, and eliminates entire families to those that wrong him, fear it with his entire heart. what will it be?**

 **To be continued.**

 **Gharst Omenlumin**


	5. Epilogue 2: True redemption

**Number 2. enjoy, as Graves finally learns of the Legion, and a new ally is introduced.**

 **enjoy.**

* * *

Halo: Ghosts of Onyx

Epilogue 2: True Redemption comes from those that make the effort.

* * *

Location: Angel city, Hidden Insurrectionist colony world, designated "Troy"

Date: 29-12-2545

* * *

Graves smiled, as he saw all the progress Hammond had made, resting in the drydocks outside the city.

Back during what was called the 'Graves Coup', Hammond had promised that he would get multiple projects up and running for him, to make the R.I.F. Military arm more efficient. And he had kept his word: The Three first ships of the sentinel Line were complete. The Titans, though only in the initial testing Phase, show much promise. The Data-knives, knives which doubled as combat knives, upgraded Spoofers and hacking devices, were complete, and pretty much the standard close-in weapon of all R.I.F. residents. The Jumpers, as the new Special Forces were called, were coming along extremely well, in no small part due to Allison stepping in to train them, teaching it by setting herself as example. MacAllen had even managed to reunite with Barker, who had become sober after hearing it was a requirement to be a sober person in order to man a Titan.

Graves continued to smile, as he looked at the Three ships in front of him: The Sentinel, the Colossus and the Red-Eye.

They were each of the Sentinel-class Heavy Carrier, named after their Flagship, the Sentinel. They were vaguely shaped like a shoebox cut in half horizontally. They were, now that Graves thought of it, shaped like a child's image of a hovercraft these days: Sixteen fixed Propulsion units at the back, and Four Propulsion moveable units at the places where wheels would be along the side, only with a fin pointed in the opposite direction, making it more streamlined. These propulsion units, pointed to the side, could tilt forward, giving it more speed if desired, at the cost of less Offensive power, as the Fins tended to block some of the Guns when in this position. Taking inspiration from Covenant vessels, the Bridge was in the center of the ship instead of either forward or on the dorsal side of the of the hull. Many of his officers had protested at that initially, and Graves admitted he needed to get used to seeing things from a feed instead of in real life as well.

But those concerns were silenced when Hammond had unveiled the true size of the ships. Initially, Hammond had said they were going to be only one kilometer long.

That 'one' turned into five.

They were the largest ships Humanity had ever built, and although Graves had heard rumors about the UNSC building a six-kilometer Flagship, the Infinity, Graves knew even one of the Sentinels would outclass Infinity. For while his ships were five Kilometers long, they were also Two Kilometers wide, and half a Kilometer in height, not counting the seven hundred meter fins.

And the sides were lined with fixed MAC guns, ten on each side. Only three would be covered per side if the fins were forward, but that was compensated by Shiva's that could be launched from the tips of those fins, and could easily make even the smartest Fleetmaster think twice about engaging him. In addition, there were Two SuperMAC's on each of the ships, one Fore and one Aft, to ensure no side was unnecessarily underarmed. And that was in addition to the nearly three hundred Close-In Weapon Systems, or CIWS, Turrets that were placed _everywhere_ on the Ship's hull.

In addition to this, the Ships also had _six_ brand new Fusion reactor cores, all powered by a new fuel, discovered by one of Hammond's brightest scientists: Cheng Lorck, or Bish, as he was commonly known. He had experimented with the silicates of a Glassed planet out of some sick curiosity, and had accidentally found a new fuel source inside, one they'd promptly named the 'Bish Isotope', in honor of the man. It had the potential to power as many as ten reactors with the amount of fuel that was usually put into one, and it allowed for much faster Slipspace travel, nearly negating the necessity of Cryo tubes. But only nearly.

Still, with these Reactors, Graves could fire twelve MAC rounds in total before the coils needed to recharge, and even then, the energy shields they'd recovered from the wrecks at Scorpio VI had added to the ship's already marvelous engineering.

In short, Graves had an unstoppable Killing machine.

Yet, with Great power comes Great Responsibility. Graves would only use these ships in the defense of Troy until Hammond had finished the other seventeen of the line. And even when they finished, Graves would only put the Captains he trusted on those ships, like Castilla, MacAllen and Cranach.

Cranach was a good kid. Ex-UNSC Navy who had deserted after he had learned that at the fall of Demeter, the UNSC had left over a hundred thousand Civilians behind for _Apples_.

For Damn Apples. Graves had been upset about it for days. He knew that some of Earth's fruits wouldn't grow on certain terraformed worlds, and thus, they were worth a fortune due to their rarity and high export costs. But to leave Civilians behind for them? That spoke of Greed of the worst kind. If he didn't know about some of ONI's other crimes, he would have been appalled by them a lot more.

Cranach had deserted along with his ship and crew. He had also managed to disable his Com array, preventing the Ship's AI, Athena, from alerting ONI of their defection. Graves didn't know what he had done or how he had done it, but Spyglass had requested an hour alone with the AI, and after that hour, the AI couldn't be more loyal to the R.I.F. when Cranach had asked, Graves couldn't understand anything beyond 'Primary Programming directives', and 'Diagnostic mode'. But Cranach had halted the droid, and the Englishmen had shown Graves his true skill.

During one of Graves' tours to defend their territory and to recruit more people to his cause, they'd accidentally run into a Covenant Warfleet headed for Ballast. And Cranach, despite being outnumbered and outgunned, like Graves and Scorpio VI, had managed to defeat multiple Covenant Corvettes by making them chase him, and, using Spyglass, blocking their radar with EMP's. He then started playing road-chicken with a Carrier, before he made a Microjump into Slipspace.

Leaving the corvettes to ram the Assault Carrier.

The Corvettes had been destroyed, and the Carrier's weapons systems had been disabled, allowing Cranach and Graves to escape, using the borrowed Cole Protocol by jumping to random uninhabited systems to shake off pursuit before heading home to Troy.

Cranach had been promoted to admiral, alongside MacAllen and Graves, the next week by the population, for what they'd done for the people.

"Beautiful, isn't it." A woman said. Graves smiled.

As promised to Thomas the day he'd left, he'd taken care of Sarah, becoming her mentor. Even if she had chosen to work in the Intelligence branch instead of the Navy itself.

Graves' mood soured a bit. Among the defectors Cranach had brought, there was the most annoying man in existence.

Sergeant Conrad Blisk.

Blisk was a former Mercenary and Ex-ONI, having worked in all manner of fields, be it Propaganda, Field-work, Special Projects, Internal affairs… he had worked in all sections of ONI, and was a man that had even managed to cross Admiral Parangosky herself. To Graves' knowledge, only Halsey had managed to successfully do that and live.

But, upon discovering about the true nature of the Spartan-Program, he had started to hate his superiors, and made sure he was on Cranach's ship when it had defected. Castilla had taken him in, and he had, slowly but surely, been taking over the Intelligence work for her. For Castilla, while loyal to him as ever, was getting old, and she didn't have the determination to go on forever, like Parangosky seemed to have. Blisk, being more experienced than her anyway, had offered to take over more and more matters, so she could retire quietly and without a ruckus.

But, with him being Ex-ONI, Graves didn't trust the Scottish man.

But he had offered to train Sarah as a field agent and, although he had told only Graves and MacAllen this, his eventual protégé and successor. So, naturally, Graves didn't protest, more than happy knowing someone he trusted was along for his line of succession.

"Yes. They may not look like much, but they are the strongest ships we have. The strongest anyone has." He answered. "Even Infinity can't stand up to this."

Sarah laughed. "Don't tell Uncle Mac that. He would rather have Infinity here."

She paused, as something was aid into her headset. She took on a surprised, concerned and happy expression at the same time. After a moment, she said something.

"Keep him there, and make sure both Allison and Blisk don't cut him open on the spot. We're on our way."

She let go of her headset, and adjusted her red Bandana "You'll want to see this. Barker was responding to a distress call from a downed shuttle, but you'll never guess what they actually found."

"You're right." He said, as he walked towards his shuttle with her. "I'm not going to guess."

She smiled. "An Elite, all alone. Jaws and knees were broken, and he had a spent magnum as a sidearm, but he was alive."

It took a moment for Graves to register it. "We have a _live_ _Elite_?"

Sarah nodded. "Mac's in the interrogation room with him right now, ensuring Blisk and Allie don't gut him on the spot."

Graves could sympathize with the two. Allie had lost a lot of her brothers to the Covenant, and she hadn't had a lot of chances for revenge. Naturally, she would want to gut him. As for Blisk, he had also seen the horrors of war, and had a tendency to twirl around with his father's combat knife. It wouldn't take a lot of the man to slip it into the Elite's head.

"Let's get going then."

* * *

Half an hour later.

Graves arrived at the interrogation room's observation bay. Inside were, as expected, Blisk and Allison, both watching it, hateful expressions on their faces. A bit off was Spyglass, recording the interview for later use.

Inside the interrogation room itself was Mac, walking around the table. Two Specters stood guard at the inside of the door, and Graves could see that, although their guns were down and their posture seemed relaxed, their fingers were on the triggers at all times. Clearly, Spyglass trusted the Elite just as little as the rest of them.

Sitting at a chair, bound at the table, was the Elite. And he immediately puzzled Graves.

For one, it was the expression and posture. Normally, the Elites would try to look as threateningly as possible, trying to intimidate their opponents, while also sitting and standing proud and tall. And yet, this one was slumped over, his head in his hands, and…

Graves didn't believe it.

Despite its enraged expression, it was crying. And it didn't even pay Mac a glance, who had a pistol in his hand. Any other Elite he'd seen would immediately have gone for the gun.

Second, it was the clothes. Any Elite he'd seen so far had worn armor. And yet, this one wore robes. Intricately detailed, artistic robes, sure, but only robes none the less.

"Has he said anything?" graves asked.

"Nothing." Blisk said in his usual Scottish accent. "The rodder's been silent ever since Barker found him."

Graves nodded. Then, he had an idea. "I'm going in and replace Mac."

Everyone in the room looked at him in surprise. Except Spyglass, who practically controlled every electrical system in their Headquarters in Angel City. He could see Graves through every camera there was, and therefor didn't need to look up.

"You do realize he could gut you on the spot." Allison warned him. "Elites aren't known for their cuddliness."

"I know." Graves retorted. "But I'm going in anyway. Spyglass, give me one of the translation devices, if necessary."

Spyglass handed him an earpiece with an antenna that extended towards Graves' mouth, acting as a translator.

Graves subsequently left the room, and headed to the door that led inside the nearly entirely black interrogation chamber.

He went in. "My turn, Mac. Go back to enjoying your Epic Music."

Mac, upon hearing Graves enter, nodded. "Fine by me. I'll see if Barker's finally ready to drink again."

Graves laughed. "He'd rather piss himself in public while naked rather than waste an opportunity to be a Jumper for one of the Titans. Go on, I'll be fine."

Mac nodded, and he left. Graves grabbed the only other chair at the table, and he sat down. The Elite looked up once, to look at his new Interrogator, but didn't say a word, before looking down again, his hands once again in his face. Graves grabbed the cup of tea that Mac had brought in earlier, took a sip to determine the taste, and, satisfied it wasn't strawberry, put it down for later consumption.

Graves looked at the Elite, while putting his hands on the table. "I know you despise my kind. Trust me, the majority considers it mutual." He started, as he looked at the Elite's features. Since that brief look he gave Graves he hadn't moved.

"But I know that look, _Sangheili_." Graves continued, careful to call it by its proper name instead of the dozens of insults that popped up in his head. "I have seen it multiple times. In the eyes of dozens of men, women and children. Hell, I'm sure even _I_ had it at least once."

He leaned a bit forward, to look it in the eye. He knew Allison and Mac would tense at this, with the obvious danger he put himself in. but Graves didn't care about that for the moment. The move helped make his point.

"It is the look of a person who has lost _everything_ he held dear." Graves said. At this, the Elite finally looked up. It was a look of rage, but it was a different kind of rage than other Elites had shown. It wasn't _intentionally_ directed at him. It wasn't angry with Marcus. Rather, it was directed at someone else.

"What do you know about loss?" The Elite said angrily. "You haven't had your family taken from you, shot down in front of your own eyes. How your once-subordinate, your confidante, betrayed you, and took everything you held dear." He paused, letting out another few tears, and even a sob. "You know _nothing_ about what I'm going through, 'Nishum. So spare me your false sympathy, and either kill me or release me. But don't waste my time with _talk_."

Graves leaned back again. "So, if I understand this right, the Covenant betrayed you, and-"

"No." The Elite said. "The Covenant didn't do this. They don't care enough about an old Councilor like me." He winced a bit, as his jaws, recently broken, obviously still hurt.

"No, It was another entity. One far more cruel, more ruthless, more dangerous, than the largest SuperCarrier. And, as much as I hate to admit it, far more efficient. They don't care about your family, or your honor. They just pillage and plunder. And take all you hold dear, for their own amusement."

Graves took note of all this, even as he knew Spyglass would still have the feed later on. For this was new information, and it was best gained when the source was still fresh, and emotional, according to Blisk.

"Then who was it?" Graves asked. The Elite looked away, with an air of helplessness and despair around him.

"Why do you care, 'Nishum? I am your prisoner. Your entertainment. What use is this information to you?"

Graves grabbed a datapad from his pocket. "In case you hadn't noticed from the Uniform, I'm not… on easy terms with my own government." Graves said. "I intend to take it over, to change it, by gaining the loyalty of its citizens."

The Elite looked up knowingly. "You're insurrectionists. The U.R.F., right?"

Graves shook his head. "No. Those anarchists only want to secede from the central government, and try to do so by weakening it. We, however, like our government, or the ideals of it, anyway."

The Elite, finally took on a confused expression. "Then why did you split up from them?"

Graves smiled. This conversation, because Graves hadn't truly asked anything or pushed the Elite it wasn't an interrogation, was going better and better. He nearly had the being.

"Because there is a plague that corrupts the government. One that will be its downfall if left unchecked, no matter the outcome of the war." Graves paused. "Perhaps you've heard of them. The Office of Naval Intelligence."

The Elite nodded. "ONI, the spies living in shadows. And, according to your description, not that dissimilar from what _you_ do right now."

He knew the others on the other side of the glass would be angry at this insult. But Graves, in favor of the information he could get from the Elite, let it slide. "Yes, we hide, just like them. So we aren't struck down when we're not ready. You see, we intend to use their own weapons against them."

"And what is that?"

Graves smiled. He had him. "Their secrets. I intend to reveal them all, once the war is over. My colleagues are already laying the foundations of how we will accomplish that." Graves paused.

"But I can't play the game if I don't know all the players. Or one might swoop the prize right out from under me. And you, my friend, just told me there is a player I wasn't aware of earlier." Graves paused, and tapped something on his datapad.

"So here's my proposal: You'll tell me everything you know about them, including how they took your family, and I'll help you get revenge."

The Elite looked up at Graves, suddenly interested. "A tempting proposal." he admitted. "But I didn't become a councilor by ignoring dangerous facts. What would be in this for you?"

Graves shrugged. "As I said: He's a new player. I don't want him to swoop out the prize from under me. So he needs taking down. And here, in front of me, sits one with the same goal in mind, although for different reasons. I propose we work together, so we can take him down. You'll have your revenge, and I'll have one less opponent to deal with when I restore the UNSC to its former glory."

The Elite seemed to think that over. "I have a condition, and a vow."

Graves nodded. "State them."

"I get to fire the killing shot at the bastard that took my family. And I vow that, once they're gone, We will be enemies. I'll return to the Covenant, and await what they'll have me do, but I won't stay with you once this is over."

Graves nodded. "I have had worse deals done in the past." Graves briefly considered holding his hand out for shaking, but decided against it. At the very least, the ones in the room next door would have either a heart attack or a fit of rage, and the Elite wouldn't shake it anyway. Instead, he grabbed a pen and paper, as well as a stylus, for drawing and writing respectively, and shoved them forwards. "Do we have a deal?"

The Elite nodded. "Deal."

And so, they sat for hours, with the Elite, which was called Ra'ak Tulam'ee, giving them every detail he'd observed and remembered: Their symbol, the amount of ships he'd seen and of which classes they were, their gear and weaponry, their colors… Tulam'ee handed Graves everything. Graves also memorized the words spoken about the invasion of his keep, along with the coordinates of an Elite Colony named Ute'k Mardee, which had supposedly been raided by them, and where they could see the cruelties of the 'Legion'. The Elite ended with the execution of his Family, and Graves gave the being a break. "I'll be back later. Knock on that mirror if you wish to continue."

Tulam'ee nodded. "I'll do that." He said, as he briefly slid into his grief again.

Graves left the room, and headed to the observation bay. To his surprise, only Blisk, Allison and Mac had stayed the entire time, and Cranach had joined them in watching.

Cranach turned to him as he entered. "You think he'd telling the truth?" he asked. "Could that Elite you've been talking to be making that up?"

Graves shook his head. "I got the feeling he was sincere. Besides, if Elites are as honorable as Intelligence claims" he gave Blisk a look at that, who ignored it "then he would be insulting me and yelling at me in the face instead of making up a false story. Hell, he'd likely even try to escape. But not this."

"Besides." Blisk added. "He didn't have everything about them."

Mac turned to the Ex-ONI agent. "And this is an indicator of his sincerity how?" he asked.

Blisk smiled, which seemed more like a predatory smile, rather than a genuine one. Blisk's former Mercenary history showed at that moment. "If they make things up on the spot, they're lying just to save their own skins. If they give their entire life stories, down to the coordinates of the planets they've traveled to, they have obviously prepared it as an alibi, and are likely lying as well. But if it's somewhere in between, giving detailed accounts yet not remembering everything, they're likely telling the truth."

He pointed at the Elite in the room below. "Alligator here falls into the last category."

Mac nodded. "I understand." He looked at Graves. "But as much as I hate to say it, Graves, I think we shouldn't pursue this. We already have ONI and the Covenant out there as enemies. We don't need a bunch of Cruel Mercenaries to add to the growing list as well."

Cranach stepped up to MacAllen. "I disagree, James. If we follow your plan, and we, as humanity, win against the Covenant, we will only have ONI to deal with. Then, out of nowhere, just as we think ONI is defeated, another group swoops in to take the prize, decimating the UNSC, and leaving us High and Dry on Troy with an even more powerful enemy that won't show mercy. They would reap the rewards for _our_ hard work." He paused, as he took a sip of water. "No. we have to deal with them. Otherwise we won't be able to restore the UNSC."

Graves nodded. "He's right. If we don't deal with them, they'll deal with us. And at the moment, despite the Sentinels Hammond has provided, we will lose."

Mac looked between his two comrades, and sighed. "I hate it when I'm being outvoted." But then he stood straighter. "But if you guys insist, I'm with you. As I always have. I just think this is a bad idea."

Graves smiled. "That's what you thought about me going into that warehouse, and look how that turned out."

Mac laughed. "True. One of them is back with us, and you've gained a daughter, no matter if she's adopted or not."

Cranach nodded. He looked at the Elite, and spoke into the speaker. "Would you like a drink, Tulam'ee? Water, tea, coffee?"

Tulam'ee shook his head. "No, thanks. And if you don't mind, I'd rather continue this tomorrow. I don't feel ready to talk about this further yet."

Graves nodded. "Suit yourself."

And so, the company moved out of the room, with Blisk headed back to his office. After a moment, as Graves, MacAllen and Cranach caught up on trivial matters, Graves got a call. It was Castilla.

"Graves, could you come by my apartment? I have someone you might want to meet, and who is willing to help you."

"Sure." Graves said. "Who?"

Castilla shook her head in amusement. "My husband." Was all she said, before she ended the call.

"Go ahead." Cranach said. "Go and speak to her. We'll amuse ourselves."

Mac nodded, and made a shooing gesture. Graves laughed, and threw his empty plastic cup at Mac, who caught it. Graves then went on his way to her apartment.

He wondered who it was Castilla wanted him to meet. She had never said who she had married, and never explained more about him beyond 'under different times, you two would have gotten along well'. Graves shrugged. Despite the fact he was now, chronologically, 46, he and Mac, due to the time they spent in Cryo during their travels and patrols, were only about Thirty biologically. Castilla had aged similarly, though she was chronologically 76, she was biologically only in her mid-fifties, and she had said her husband had aged just as well.

After about half an hour walk, he arrived at her apartment, which was near the Groundside drydocks. Her ship, the Bellicose, was visible in the distance. He walked up to the right floor and door, and pressed the doorbell. After a moment, she opened, and smiled.

"Ah, Graves. Come in." she invited, and he did so. He hung up his coat, and pulled off his boots, as was customary in her house. He followed her into the living room.

Where his breath caught, and he froze.

No. this could… he…

All his thoughts ceased at that moment in admiration of the man, who had been presumed dead in the most successful UNSC battle to date two years earlier.

"Admiral Marcus Graves," Castilla said invitingly and warmly. The man turned, and he smiled a swell, pleased to meet Marcus. And still, Marcus couldn't believe his eyes. And his fortune.

"Allow me to introduce you to my husband: Former Vice admiral Preston Cole."

* * *

 **Here. as hinted previously, Admiral Cole himself appears, shortly after his supposed death at Psi Serpentis. how will Graves react?**

 **We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?**

 **Gharst Omenlumin**


	6. Epilogue 3: Ultimate defeat or victory?

**Number three is here. the usual disclaimers and requests for reviews still stand, bla bla bla. I won't bother you: Read on.**

* * *

Halo: Ghosts of Onyx

Epilogue 3: Ultimate defeat... or possible victory?

* * *

Location: Apartment building near Angel City Drydocks, Angel City, Hidden Insurrectionist Colony World, Designated 'Troy'.

Date: 29-12-2545

Graves stammered, as he stood straighter, and he straightened his uniform. He couldn't believe his own eyes.

Preston Cole, Vice Admiral of the UNSC, was here. The four-time Reclaimer/Defender of Harvest. The creator of the Cole Protocol. The leading figure of Humanity. Likely the only one that has a higher kill count than an individual Spartan-II. A man believed dead.

And yet, here, sitting relaxed on a couch in front of him, an opened Saxon beer bottle in his hand, was the man in question.

Graves admired Cole slightly. Everyone in the navy did. Despite the high casualty rates among his men, he had the highest record of victories against the Covenant. No one had a better record of kills, despite his troubled past. Graves, despite his admittedly insurrectionist nature in reforming the UNSC, had always tried to live by the moral rules Cole had set for himself. He was one of the best men anyone could have in command of a fleet.

And here, sitting in front of him, was the man, smiling.

Graves stepped forward. "An honor to meet you, Sir. Though I have to admit, Captain Castilla never mentioned she was married to you."

Cole chuckled. "Two points, son. First, lose the 'Sir' stuff. Technically, you outrank me at this point. Second, we kept it quiet on purpose, though some in ONI _did_ find out." Cole gestured with his free hand at the couch. "Sit down. It's not like you have an injury that prevents you from sitting."

Graves nodded, and he sat down.

"Though I am very happy to see you alive, well, and here of all places, I have to wander why." Graves said. "From what I'd gathered, you seemed like you were on the point of collapse."

Cole nodded. "Yeah. The attention of the public, combined with the pressure of combat against the Covenant, not to mention ONI or the other admirals... I just needed out for a moment." he paused. "But Castilla brought something to my attention a few years ago. Namely, the true nature of your daughter, Allison Graves."

Marcus stiffened a bit. Aside from Mac, Castilla and Sarah, no one else knew the full truth of Allison's past with ONI and the Spartan program, only that she was a neglected and misused Special Forces officer.

Cole immediately held his hands up. "Relax. I don't plan on doing anything. Lyrie warned me you were touchy about the subject."

Graves relaxed again. "So what is it you want, eh..." Graves paused, at a loss for words. "How do I call you?"

Cole chuckled. "Preston works fine. As to answer your first question, what Lyrie told me, you seem to plan to take over the UNSC."

Graves nodded. "Yes, though I admit I don't plan to change all that much. It's merely that ONI has too much freedom to do as they pleased. Look at Allison: kidnapped while still a kid, forced to become a Spartan supersoldier. And the nuclear bombings on Mamore, merely to silence Insurrectionists and legitimate protestors. All because they felt threatened by them. It needs to stop."

Cole nodded. "I agree. As the battles went on and on, I noticed more and more mistakes, and deaths as a result of those mistakes, that could have been prevented had ONI done its job properly. And on top of that, Parangosky is head of ONI for how long now?"

"Since 2512, so about thirty three years." Graves answered. "rather long, but she is the one thing holding it together."

Cole nodded. "Did you also know she is one of the rejects of the Augmentation process to take her place one day?"

Graves nodded. "Sergeant Blisk, who you likely know, told me that after he joined up with us. Serin, right?"

Cole nodded. "She will likely become just as ruthless, just as relentless, and just as unforgiving as 'Old Marge'. And if that's so, we will have a far more dangerous opponent. Not an old woman who can die at any moment, but someone fresh, young, and eager to take the fight to us."

Graves nodded, making a note of the fact Cole said _we_. "And what do you suggest I do?" he asked.

Cole took a sip of the beer in his hand. "I'm offering my services to you Graves. I won't be in direct command of a ship, and I don't want to be the new face of your insurrection. But, with ONI being in its usual headless-chicken mode due to the advance of the Covenant and its own incompetence, the UNSC will likely fall if we do nothing. And you are the only alternative I see."

Graves was... he didn't have words for what Cole was offering. Preston Cole, the legendary Admiral, the only one to insult the Covenant's faith and live, saw _him_ as the best alternative for the government? And on top of that, he was willing to _serve_ Graves? Shock didn't even come close to how Graves felt. It left him speechless, with his jaw dropped.

Castilla, who had been silent during the exchange, chuckled. "Graves, close your mouth. The draft might come in."

Graves got the hint, and closed his mouth. Cole smirked. "I take it you will accept me?" he asked.

Graves, knowing he needed to reply, just voiced his thoughts. "I... I would be honored. But..."

Cole nodded knowingly. "You think I'm a better hope than you. That I'm so powerful, smart and a strategic thinker that you are beneath me." Cole gestured out the window. "But consider this: You have about fifty million insurrectionists behind you, and, due to Mr. Hammond's contacts in the Sovereign Colonies, likely three billion more who might come if you asked politely. You control the three biggest ships Humanity has ever built. You have a robot army at your beck and call, even if you only use them as security forces." Cole then pointed at himself. "All I have are my wit, and an aged Marathon Cruiser to call my own."

Graves didn't know how he felt about that. "But... if you had as long as I had, you likely would have been able to build up a force of similar size." he managed, despite his hesitance to contradict his idol.

"Maybe." Cole admitted. "But I'm not as charismatic a leader as you. The people actually believe you can lead them to a better age. Me? I'm merely a simple admiral who has the mental skill to outthink the alien bastards." Cole paused. "Besides, I suspect I wouldn't have come as far as you. Hammond's betrayal of his own council was a stroke of luck, as your 'trial' was a stroke of bad luck. Even _if_ I managed to gain control of an insurrectionist faction as powerful as this one, which I doubt, I wouldn't be able to build up the kind of forces you can now bring to bear."

Graves nodded silently. The man did have a good point. Graves hadn't known about Hammond's feelings about Graves' trial, or what he would do, and it was indeed a stroke of luck that Hammond had arrested the Council instead of killing Graves. And indeed, if Graves wanted to, he could order Spyglass to just invade Earth with all the Specters he controlled, and he would barely have to wait a week before he could gain control of it. But that would severely destabilize the UNSC, especially now that they were this resource-drained due to the Covenant driving humanity to extinction. And so, they waited, until either Earth was under direct attack, or until the Covenant was defeated, before they meddled with the galaxy at large.

"And" Castilla added. "you have two things above all the other movements."

Graves turned to her in the chair. He sat in. "And what are they?"

"A good moral compass, and a righteous cause. I mean, look at Allison: you wish to give her back the life she couldn't have due to ONI, and you did a fine job I might add. You are doing all this for them. And thus, you never stray, because you know they wouldn't want that."

Cole nodded. "And that, Admiral, is why I chose you." he stood up. "I will merely take on an advisory role. I'm too old to be involved in combat itself, and you and your cabal of MacAllen and Cranach are more than competent enough to manage on your own. But when you initiate your attacks, I'll help out with the battle plans, and a speech here and there to motivate the troops."

Graves nodded, and held out his hand, as he stood up. "Well, Preston... welcome to the Rebel Insurrectionist Front. It will be an honor to work with you."

Cole stood up, as he shook Graves' hand. "The honor is mine, Admiral Graves."

Graves nodded, and grabbed out his datapad, the one containing most of the info Tulam'ee had given them. "As you're now one of our own, I'll get you up to speed. We captured a live Elite a few hours ago, a civilian by the looks of it. We found him marooned in the forests a few kilometers east. He has detailed a previously unknown faction that killed his family. He'll help us take it down in exchange for revenge."

Cole took the datapad, and looked the files they had gathered over. After a moment of reading the summaries, he handed it to Castilla, who read it as well.

"Do you trust him?" Cole asked.

"No. But I do believe him. And if we don't deal with them, they'll either deal with us, or devastate the UNSC so heavily there won't be much for us to reform."

Cole nodded. "One thing at a time, though. Do you mind if I copy those files, and read them over?"

Graves shrugged. "Be my guest. Also, I can arrange an interview with the Elite in question if you want."

Cole nodded. "That could be useful. I want a look at the being myself, so I can judge for myself, and get my own feel about this."

Graves could understand that. He walked towards the door. "I'll arrange for a formal introduction between you and the rest of the command chain. If you're going to advice me, it might be better if you know who I work with."

Cole nodded. "I'll be at Headquarters in three hours."

Graves nodded, and he gave an informal salute. "It's been a pleasure meeting you... Sir." he said mockingly. Cole rolled his eyes, and went back to reading the files. Graves turned to Castilla. "Ma'am, it was a pleasure. And it was nice meeting your husband."

Castilla smiled. "It was. And for the record, even if he'll never admit it, he wanted to meet you the moment I told him about you and Mac. And especially after what you did for little Allie."

Graves chuckled as he glanced at Cole. "yeah. I'll see you later."

Castilla turned to leave Graves to his business, but turned back mid-stride. "Oh, I almost forgot." she handed him two pieces of paper. They bore two names, and their Waypoint numbers.

 _Staffan Sentzke: 023-9986-345_

 _Andy Remo: 023-1957-026_

"They're people Cole met on the way here, when he briefly stopped on Venezia for fuel." she paused. "According to files he got when he deserted, they're parents of... Allison's kindergarten friends."

Graves immediately got the euphemism, and nodded. "I'll be sure to reach out to them. I'll see you later."

Castilla nodded. "In three hours."

Graves nodded, grabbed his jacket, and left the apartment. As he walked outside, and headed for HQ, he took a small detour through the drydocks, once again admiring the Red-Eye, which was currently the closest of the three ships.

He sent a message to everyone he expected Cole would need to meet: Mac, Cranach, Blisk, Sarah, Spyglass, Allison, Hammond and Gallagher.

General Joseph Gallagher was their Commander in Chief of all ground forces. He was experienced, and had been an ODST before he'd joined Cranach in his defection. He was a no-nonsense man in his late forties, and had been present on Harvest during the start of the war, and had made a point that, prior to his defection, he was to be present at every major battle with the Covenant. He was also, much to Allison's surprise upon discovering it, aware of the origin of the Spartan-II's, having been a crew member on another Albatross that had kidnapped some of the children. He hadn't dared defect before, as he had no contacts, and no people that could help him hide from ONI. And without Graves, he likely would have been found dead a few days after his defection. But, as he was now, the man was content to command all ground forces.

Including the Titans.

Giant exosuits fifteen meters tall, they were a significant advancement Hammond had made on the old Cyclops suits. Just as mobile, armor twice as thick, and a lot of improved weapons systems. Blast, Hammond had even built rifles _designed_ to be held by Titans. On top of that, most had build-in rocket launchers on their shoulders, and Energy Shield technology stolen from the covenant that allowed them to create improvised cover to hide behind. To top it off, each had an ejection seat and an Archer-grade bomb installed to detonate once critically damaged, to prevent it from falling into enemy hands, and take a few of said enemy down with it.

No wonder Barker had stopped his drinking activities purely to be able to control one of these Titans.

As he walked alongside the drydocks towards HQ, for about twenty minutes, he came across Captain Rogers, an upcoming Captain popular in the public eye. Graves planned to make him the captain of the next Sentinel-class vessel to be completed, as Graves knew he was competent, smart, and could be trusted. Also, he was a certified combat trainer for the Pilots, as he was a former ODST himself before deciding to join the navy after three years of service and two tours.

"Good afternoon, Steve." Graves said as he walked past.

"Hello, Admiral." Rogers said. "Will you be at HQ in a few hours? Rumor goes that you have called up the entire command chain for something important."

Graves chuckled inwardly. Whoever had gotten or seen the message must have spread the word. "Yep. I'll be there. Do you know who else will be there?" he asked out of curiosity.

"I know McGregor and Blisk will attend, as well as Cranach. Hammond is off planet, so he'll likely not be there in person."

Graves nodded. "Spyglass will have one of his Specters activate a hologram so he can attend. Don't worry, he'll show up."

"I'm sure. Have a good day."

"Same to you. And give Barker my regards."

And with that, both men continued on to their walk. Graves saw Rogers had briefly stopped, so he could admire the Red-Eye from the side of the dock.

Ahhh, to be young and enthusiastic again.

Although, come to think of it, he was barely an hour ago, when he met his idol, Admiral Cole.

And now, even if it was only in an advisory role, they had the legendary Cole on their side. They might have a chance of victory after all.

He arrived at HQ, and once again smiled at all the progress they had made. Formerly the building the High Council called home, the tower had been demolished and rebuilt in record time, due to the fact the interior had smacked too much of the arrogance of the council from back then. Hammond had sold everything that could be moved to increase their treasury, and Allison, along with a dozen rioters and opposers to the old council, had forcefully removed what couldn't, like statues of the councilors.

Then, Hammond had constructed a facility that was, although largely underground to protect against bombardments, a very impressive sight to behold. Modeled after the pyramids of Egypt and Teotihuacan, it was about one hundred meters tall, built like an actual tiered pyramid, with a flat top and multiple defensive weapons to protect the city up top, and the important parts, like the armory and the command chambers, underground. It was built like a fortress, and had only one weakness, which Graves actually saw as an advantage: due to the odd design, the topside pyramid's inner corridors and hallways had no logical layout, and anyone not familiar with them would be lost in fifteen minutes. Underground, things got more logical, and had a sense to them, but in the pyramid, Graves had often found Mac stuck, locked in the cleaning closet when he was in fact looking for a bathroom. Cranach and Graves still joked about it to this day.

Graves arrived thirty minutes early at the meeting room, and, to his surprise, second: Mac was already there.

"Care to inform me about this surprise of yours?" Mac asked. "Because I had to use a guide to get here, and I don't want to hire another one to get out."

Graves chuckled. "Cranach would be willing to help out. How's four-jaw?"

"Keeping busy. Cranach gave him a Rubik's cube."

"And?"

"Last I heard, he was still busy." Mac took on a serious tone. "But you're avoiding the question."

Graves nodded. "I am. But I'm keeping it a surprise. Lets just say that A: you won't believe me, and B: Your face will be priceless upon seeing him."

Mac, knowing Graves wouldn't tell more, nodded. "Fair enough."

and so, as they waited, catching up on idle, trivial topics, the others slowly came in: First Cranach and Spyglass, who were followed on foot by a Specter doubtlessly meant to take on Hammond's appearance through a hologram, and activate communications. Then, Allison arrived, followed by Gallagher. They were catching up on the latest versions of the Pilot armor system, and the upgraded versions Hammond was making for Allison.

Then, Sarah arrived, sitting at the opposite end of the table. Lastly, Blisk arrived, obviously only just having woken up. Also, Castilla arrived, which surprised Graves. He had expected she would come in with her husband. But no matter.

Graves stood, as it was only a minute until Cole arrived. He grabbed his pistol, and banged the grip on the table to draw everyone's attention.

"I'm sure you are all eager to see why I called you here."

directly at the end of the sentence, the spare Specter's appearance changed, as the holographic communications were activated. Then, in its place, Hammond stood, in a business suit as usual.

"Can you make it quick, Graves? I've got a meeting with Mahad in half an hour, and I still want a cup of coffee without him."

Graves, knowing General Mahad of the Sovereign Colonies didn't like having his time wasted, got to the point. "Castilla here brought someone to my attention. Someone we all could appreciate on our side. Her husband.

He stepped aside. As if perfectly timed, the doors opened behind Graves. And the man for whom he had scheduled this meeting stepped in. Everyone took on either a look of surprise, shock, or renewed interest in the meeting. Spyglass' expression, of course, remained neutral, as he had no face. But still, his stance changed enough that he knew he was recalculating what the R.I.F. Could do with someone like him.

Cole stood at the head of the table, and he nodded to everyone.

"I am Admiral Cole, as you likely guessed. And I am willing to help you people out. Before you ask: no, I won't take up the role of captain unless it goes so FUBAR that even Castilla asks me to."

a few chuckled at the remark, despite their shock.

"However, I will take on an advisory role within your military, and put my Marathon Cruiser, the Everest, at your disposal. I know I am... _liked_ among some people. All I can say is this: I believe in you all, and I hope that, with my help, we will achieve the victory against ONI we desire."

at this, multiple people, started clapping, including the Hammond Hologram. Then, Hammond stepped forward, and walked up to the man.

"My time is short, so I'll be brief: It will be a _pleasure_ to be an associate with you."

Cole held out his hand for shaking, and the hologram-droid shook it, as Hammond gestured to do the same. It was the thought that counted, after all. "The Pleasure is mine. Especially with those new Sentinels you've been constructing."

Hammond smiled. "Thought you might like those."

and so, the rest of the company stood up to greet their new advisor personally, even Blisk and Gallagher, the least social people of the mix.

In the end, Allison was last. Cole took on a sad smile. "I'm sorry about your comrades, dear. Rest assured, I'll do what I can to help you, and that the parents of the survivors are found."

Allison nodded. "Thank you, Sir. That's more thoughtful than what the rest of the UNSC have offered."

Cole nodded sadly. "When all this is over, I'm gonna work on that."

Allison nodded in thanks, and withdrew.

Hammond coughed. "As much as it was an honor, I have to go now."

Cole nodded. "Take care, and I hope I'll see you again."

"You too, Cole." Hammond said, and the hologram deactivated. Graves turned to the admiral. "Well, this is what we have for a leadership at the moment: Blisk and Castilla provide intelligence, Sarah is one of our best field agents, Gallagher is in command of our ground forces, Allison is in command of Special forces, Spyglass is in control of all Specters, though Cranach, MacAllen and I have executive control over him, Hammond provides resources and oversees ship construction, and Mac, Cranach and I oversee fleet activities. What do you think?"

Cole brought his hand to his chin for a moment in thought. "It's young, and there's room for improvement. But, given time, I think you will grow out to be stronger than all the other movements, and can even absorb some into yourself." Cole gave as a final verdict.

Mac nodded. "Glad you agreed with us, Admiral. Now, shall we oversee the plans on how top overthrow ONI?"

Cole nodded. "Agreed. And I already have an idea how to start it, should the war end."

"How?" Cranach asked. "ONI's locked up either inside Bravo 6, The Point of No Return, or the Midnight Prison facilities no one can locate. How do we destabilize them?"

Cole smiled. "Simple." he said, looking at Allison.

"We get all files concerning the Spartans, and make them public. What better way to put ONI both on the defense and on their toes than turning the public against them?"

Graves nodded. He had promised Allison he would do that anyway one day. Might as well ensure it brought ONI down along the way. "And how do we get all the files?" he asked. "Because even if Spyglass manages to hack the mainframe, it's bound to be encrypted."

"Only a handful of people have access to all the files concerning the Spartans." Castilla explained, showing holo's of the people in question on the table's projector. "Margaret Parangosky, who's safe and sound in Bravo 6, Serin Osman, Parangosky's eventual protégé, who's at the Point of No Return most of the time, Doctor Halsey, who alternates between ONI's SWORD and CASTLE bases, and the easiest man to grab."

she showed a new hologram: a man in his early forties or late thirties, black hair, glasses and a stubble on his chin and cheeks.

"Doctor Leonard van Conroy." Blisk answered. "He and Halsey both kept journals concerning the Spartans, and have access to the complete files on them. He's also on SWORD base, but he comes out more often."

Cranach looked it over. "So, let me get this straight: Our spies, when the time is right, infiltrate SWORD base, retrieve the Doctor and his files, and have him decrypt them for us?"

"Yes." Blisk said frankly. "That's what I had in mind. As a matter of fact, I suggest we place McGregor on Reach for the foreseeable future for just _that_ purpose."

Graves didn't like it, being separated from her. After all, he taught her everything he knew, and Allison saw her as a younger sister. Practically, after her aunt's death, she was family.

But he knew that she was their best shot at getting those files. "I agree, as much as I hate to say it."

Castilla and Sarah nodded. "It's settled then: Sarah McGregor will journey to Reach, and make a temporary living there as a job you see fit to the needs. If the time is right, or Reach is attacked, you will retrieve the good Doctor, and bring him back to us. If you are compromised, or if you can't reach him, we will send Back-up agents to do it for you."

Sarah nodded, as she moved to the exit. "Yes, Sirs, Ma'ams. I'll get it done." and with that, she left the room.

Graves turned to Cole. "Now, to evenly important matters concerning the Legion."

* * *

Sarah already had a plan in her head as soon as she left the room. She had expected such a mission, especially in the practical military heart if the UNSC. She grabbed her encrypted chatter, which showed to any caller she was on Sigma Octanus, and called her contact.

"Hey, asshole. That offer for that apartment on Reach still open? I have a long-term job there, and I need a place to lay low until I can complete it."

"The offer still stands." the New-Zealander said. "Give me two weeks, and I'll have everything cleared out. No worries, the R.I.F. can do its job."

"Thanks." Sarah said. "I'll see you there."

"Indeed. The usual payment?"

Sarah nodded. "Yep. I'll look after your daughter while you're on active duty."

"Thank you." the man said.

Sarah smiled, and ended the call with Richard 'Richie' Wilson.

* * *

 **And so, a new double agent is revealed. and the reactions of everyone concerning Cole are revealed. how will this end?**

 **We'll find out at the end of Halo 3's Epilogue, won't we?**

 **the Hologram droid part, by the way, was inspired by PROXY from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.**

 **Gharst Omenlumin sends you his regards.**


	7. Epilogue 4: Reclamation or damnation?

**And here's the number 4. I must admit, I find this chapter rather...**

 **Nevermind. this isn't the concern of those in on the stages and steps of the plan. and believe me, only very few people are in on this. (message me if you wish to be in on it, or want to write side-stories of what I write here. Basically, it's allowed as long as I get an honorary mention and it fits into the plan.). As usual, the disclaimer and review request still stand.**

 **Still, read on.**

* * *

Halo: Ghosts of Onyx Epilogue 4:

Reclamation, Salvation... or Damnation?

* * *

Location: Installation 03 Control Room, Khaphrae System

Date: 29-03-2549

Gharst looked around, as the Spirit dropped him off at the Control Room, and immediately was glad he had Energy Shields on.

The Ring had been discovered around the beginning of the month, and Gharst, and the others of the chain of command, had done their best to clear their schedule as fast as possible in order to get there. Not because they believed in the divinity of the Forerunners, but because of the threat they knew lay beneath the surface of the Ring.

No, Forerunner worship had been kept out of the Legion, either beaten out of the ex-Covenant members, or willfully cast aside. Which was a handy thing, considering what Gharst was about to do.

"Recko, have you determined the location of all Parasite-containing facilities?" Gharst asked, as he approached.

Recko and Jan, upon the discovery, had been sent ahead to both quarantine the Star System, and to begin the extermination of all Flood samples. Jan had seen to the quarantine, while Recko, along with a small army of Cerberus soldiers, swept through the facilities until they located the control room, where they learned the location of every sample on this ring. At least, if their data on the control center, provided by their pawn Reghok Katarn'ee on Sang'Katarn, was correct.

"Tall and Brooding was right. We've got every location of the things. Cerberus teams are burning down or nuking the facilities from the inside as we speak." he paused. "Still no sign of the Monitor, though."

Gharst thought that over, a plan already forming in his head. "The Three Pulse Generators spread around this canyon. They're necessary for activating the Ring, right?"

Recko nodded. "Without them, the Ring can't generate enough power to even clear the Planet it orbits."

Gharst nodded. "Fry them with EMP bombs. The Monitor will want his ring to be operational in case of an outbreak. So, if we destroy the things he needs most for the Lighting of the Ring, I'll bet he'll come running. Oh, and also send in repair teams afterwards, as a show of good Faith to the Monitor."

"I won't take you up on that bet. I learned my lesson at Lemer Seqesg." Recko answered. But he complied, ordering the three Cerberus units in the area to destroy them.

Gharst looked over the data he had on the ring as he waited. The surface was, except for things like the Library, Cartographer, Control Room and such, mostly volcanic. Which was interesting, considering the Ring was incapable of Tectonic activity. Which meant that the Forerunners artificially controlled the Atmosphere, Climate and Terrain of the Ring, and had intentionally made it inhospitable for most species. Frankly, even the Grunts, whose Homeworld was known to be hot due to the high amount of Methane in the atmosphere, found the heat here uncomfortable. Hence, why every Legion member wore upgraded Energy Shields designed to withstand the heat.

Which brought Gharst back to his original line of thinking, the one he had picked up upon reading about the environment: _why_ had the Forerunners made this planet so inhospitable? According to Reghok's data, all the other Rings had more species-friendly environments, like hill-lands, jungle, beaches, and grasslands. And yet, here was one that nearly no one would want to travel to.

Gharst knew he needed more information about this Ring he had to little information to solve the puzzle. It couldn't be the hidden enemy: They were on the other installations as well, and they had considerably better climates. _So why?_

"Order all Stormtroopers to be extra alert for data terminals, and promise a small reward for anyone finding out more about the reasons of this climate. That should be incentive enough to keep them alert."

Recko nodded, as he carried out the order. "Anything in particular you're looking for?" he asked. "First Pulse Generator disabled, by the way."

"All other Rings have far more hospitable climates than this one." Gharst Elaborated. "I want to know why."

"Forerunner eccentricity?" Recko guessed. "For all we know, including the data in the Archive data we stole from Rikatee, we've never found out anything about their tastes. Maybe they wanted one with this kind of climate as well."

Gharst thought that over. He had to admit, it was possible. But, knowing the other artifacts they'd uncovered, it was unlikely. "No. Everything the Forerunners have done, they always did it with a purpose. Including the Climates. No, it wasn't for the aesthetic design."

"A deterrent." Recko said then. "To prevent something to escape."

"Or..." Lumier said, as he finally landed and approached as well. "to prevent outsiders from finding something."

Gharst and Recko looked at him in surprise. "And how do you figure that?"

"Think of it as an anti-intrusion defense. Like a minefield around a military base, or laser- and motion detection alarms built in a large bank."

"Makes sense." Jan said over the com. "If the Forerunners want something to remain hidden, they would want that whoever would come after it would meet as much opposition as possible... including opposition from the environment."

"Second and third Generators simultaneously disabled." Recko said. "Now what."

"Open a transmission over open com." Gharst ordered. "Whether he responds or not, the Monitor will be listening in."

Recko nodded, and he pressed a few buttons. "Channel's open."

Gharst nodded, and he cleared his Throat, focusing on the volcanic landscape in the distance, and the ash clouds that covered the entire sky.

"Monitor, whatever your name and number might be, I am Commander Gharst. I am the one responsible for the sabotaging of your Installation's Pulse Generators. Meet me at the Control Room, and we'll-"

A Green flash appeared in front of him, and sure enough, a Monitor with an Orange Eyelens appeared.

"talk." Gharst finished rhetorically. To their credit, Recko, Lumier and the others managed to not raise their rifles and other weapons in surprise.

"I am 049 Abject Testament." The Monitor said in a robotic, heavy and solemn voice. "Monitor of Installation 03, codenamed Gamma Halo. Why do you sabotage my Pulse Generators, _meddler_?"

Gharst noted the veiled contempt the monitor had in his voice. Apparently, it didn't like the ones who damaged his installation. How surprised it will be, when he learned Gharst also had sent repair teams to the generators.

"Rest assured, Monitor. I do not wish to disable this ring permanently. Already have I got repair teams on the way to repair the generators I damaged."

The Monitor's orange lighting dimmed slightly in contemplation. "If you do not wish to destroy the ring, then why did you damage the generators in the first place?"

Gharst grinned. "To achieve something I've already done: getting an audience with _you_."

The Monitor lighted up in understanding. "And so, you sabotaged something to get my attention, while repairing it immediately to show you meant no ill will."

"Precisely."

The Monitor drifted off slightly, looking at the others and the landscape of volcanoes, deserts and barren wastelands on his ring. "Very well: What do you wish to know of me, meddler." it said, no longer any disdain associated with the term.

Gharst smiled. "A game of exchange: As I'm aware, you have little to no intel from outside your facility for the past ten thousand years. I will inform you about said events, in exchange for information on this ring."

"That is agreeable." the Monitor said.

"My first Question: Why is this Ring volcanic, while the others are more hospitable for other species?"

The Monitor paused. "As a security measure to prevent theft of and/or unauthorized access to the Lightway." it paused. "My turn: Has the Parasite been contained? Have our efforts been warranted instead of an actual waste?"

Gharst smiled. This next part, while it would ensure the Monitor's loyalty, would be displeasurable for it.

"It was contained for over a hundred thousand years. Only barely three years ago, however, Humanity came across a storage facility of samples. My turn: what is the Lightway?"

"The Monitor paused. Obviously, it didn't like being left out of the loop, even if only for a few minutes. "The Lightway was an early measure against the Flood, before it, too, proved ineffective. It allowed for transportation across great distances, to the point it could, if provided enough power and a seizable enough Crystal, even cross over the edge of the Galaxy, and beyond."

Gharst and the others froze, as the implications sunk in. _Being able to travel across Galaxies?_ This meant they had a way out, to hide from the Flood. They wouldn't need to exterminate the Covenant, the UNSC, or even the blasted ONI spies. They could actually be safe! "Why did it fail?" Gharst asked in renewed Curiosity?"

"Ahem." the monitor said. "It's my turn."

Gharst nodded. "Ask."

"What is the name of the storage planet?"

"I'll answer that one." Recko said. "I don't know the Forerunner name, but we know it as Aegis VII. These are the Coordinates."

The Monitor took the data, and looked over the coordinates. Then it glowed even brighter in shock. "No! Not Storage Location Facility 26528. please, tell me the mutations didn't escape!" it pleaded.

Gharst, not eager to disappoint someone who knew a threat when he saw one, didn't like it. But he answered anyway.

"I'm afraid they escaped. Humans came across it during a mining enterprise, but accidentally breached the failsafes. They managed to quarantine it under a large amount of rubble, but it's only a matter of time before another enterprise finds it." Before the Monitor could even formulate an answer, however, Gharst continued. "Rest assured, however: I'm making preparations to exterminate them."

The Monitor floated over, to hover barely half a meter in front of Gharst's face.

"Swear to me you make those efforts, Reclaimer, and I will provide you with all data needed to control the Lightway."

Gharst nodded. "I will."

The Monitor nodded. "Then follow me." he disappeared, and he disappeared. Gharst then noticed, however, that he had moved too: He was now in what he assumed was the Library. However, it was way hotter than Recko had indicated, and Gharst's Altitude meter showed he was actually _underground_.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"The Vault." Testament answered. "Every Ring has one: A place where Monitors can experiment to help pass the time when their minds start to drift. For Example: Installation 06's Vault contained, according to the last report, new technology that can rebuild any lifeform on a molecular level, assuming any of the original tissue survived. An advancement to what was taught and incorporated into the Lifeworker Huragok. And Installation 04 had managed to... cheat the natural decay of his personal power source, allowing him to go for a million Millennia without a memory wipe or power recharge."

Gharst listened to all of this with interest. Any intel he gained would come in useful, and it might even help his cause if he proclaimed it. Still, he was astonished. An possibly infinite power source? The ability to regenerate an entire body even if only a small slab of meat was left, which essentially meant the dead could be reanimated? It all astounded Gharst. And yet, knowing how advanced the Forerunners were, and the theoretical knowledge and vast intelligence put into their monitors, he shouldn't be surprised these developments have been made in the last hundred thousand years.

"However," Testament continued, eager to talk. Like any monitor. "There are causes where Vaults are accidentally misused. Installation 05, for example, tried to experiment with an antigen to prevent the creation of a Gravemind."

"That isn't as bad, is it?" Gharst dared ask.

"It is, if it requires you to _actually_ grow a Gravemind."

Gharst paused in horror. "Is it still alive?" he asked.

"According to the last report from 10.563 years ago, yes. However, it was contained inside an impregnable Sentinel Wall, along with all Flood Spores and samples. Still, it worries me I haven't had a report since."

Gharst nodded in understanding, already forming his own conclusion. Installation 05's monitor likely had a curious streak, and had gone back in to continue its research. It had then been captured, with no way out of the Sentinel Wall, and, with no way out, had blocked all communications. It would explain the blackout.

"I'm sure he's alright." Gharst falsely comforted. "But let me guess: You used your vault to preserve the Lightway?"

"To _improve_ it." testament connected, as they came to a door. "Here we are. Give me a moment."

after a small pair of seconds of shooting a blue beam at the lock, the large door opened.

Inside a massive room lay, covered by an army of Constructors, a large device, easily one hundred and fifty meters tall if it stood upright. Right now, however, it lay on its side: A Cylinder, covered in intricate machinery, with three folded deployable stands evenly divided along the bottom of the cylinder. At the top, and as Gharst suspected along the entire inside of the device, was a lens visible, to focus the energy."

"if it were provided with the right power and upgrades, how would it cross the Galaxies?" Gharst asked upon seeing it.

"It needs Massive amounts of power, but in theory, all it does is open a Portal to the intended destination. It was meant to transport the Forerunners to another part of the Universe, so they would be safe from it. However, the Flood advanced too far before the Project could be completed, and the Halos were used." The Monitor paused. "I have been continuing to finish the Project ever since the first firing, so others could use it should the need prove dire enough."

Gharst nodded. "You didn't want others to be exterminated the same way the Forerunners were. So you finished it."

The Monitor, despite having no actual head, managed to nod. "However, The process has been stalled, due to a lack of the necessary parts, production has been stalled for the last three thousand years."

"What do you need?" Gharst asked. "I will do my best to contain whatever's at Aegis VII. But in the event our efforts fail, they will spread."

"A Power Crystal, for a start. It is a Precursor artifact, and would likely be kept in one of the Glory Halls. Another thing that will be necessary is Special Coolant Fuel, which I can't get without demolishing the Pulse Generators. Then there are a number of other things that are likely easy to get in your worlds, but difficult to create here. They aren't as worthy of a mention as the other two critical elements."

Gharst nodded. "Make a list of the Components you'll need, and I'll ensure we acquire them. What do you know of the locations of the respective components?"

The Monitor conferred with its own database, before it approached Gharst again. "The First is located at these coordinates, on this region of the planet. It was meant to be picked up, but its pickup grabbed the wrong package, and it was intercepted and crashed. The location of the second, though I've managed to confirm the Fuel's invented, is not located in my database. I will need to do further research."

Gharst nodded, as he looked over the data.

Damn. The Crystal's in a Forerunner facility underground. On Reach.

Underneath ONI CASTLE base. He couldn't get at it. Not now. No, he would have to settle and wait. And hope the Covenant attacked the Planet, so he could attempt to steal it from them, once it was discovered. He would have to, if there was any hope for them _at all_.

Location: High Council Chamber, Capital City of Kortan-Sho, Independent Sangheili colony of Sang'Katarn.

Date: 03-11-2552

Fol kept looking at the Spartan, as he was forced to limp out, defeated by his father. He had, once again, sacrificed himself so she wouldn't have to fight. And yet, as he realized only now, she would never run from a fight. Not if she could help it.

Of course, he took it with a grain of salt, as she seemed to feel some animosity for the Kaidon. She had avoided him upon discovering who the being in question was, and he had intended to ask. But Six had avoided him, all the way ever since, until the meeting here. Where the Kaidon had refused to aid the UNSC out of cowardice, indifference or apathy. And so, He had hoped to challenge his father, to defeat him, and become Kaidon himself, so he could help humanity. His Father's Cerberus augmentations be damned, but he had to do something.

But his Father, as expected, had beaten him, and let him live out of mercy.

Which was, of course, the time Six had jumped in, her Katarn in hand. Challenging the Kaidon to a duel.

Fol found his way back to his seat, next to the Spartans of Gray Team. They were present, under invitation by both him and Ghanak. The Spartans were sitting on the edge of the seat in anticipation.

"You did all you could, Field-Marshal." Their leader, Jai, reassured him. "The rest's up to her, now."

Fol nodded, as he watched. Six, eager to fight the Kaidon yet refusing to attack first, slowly circled the Kaidon, slowly approaching him. As she got in range, she jumped, just as the Kaidon slashed where she'd been. As she landed, she kicked him in the back, and he feinted a stumble. Six tried to slash at his back with her Katarn, but he blocked it. After a few more strikes from Six at Reghok, which he all blocked, he kicked her away to the other side of the arena. She landed on her face, and got up without issue. They stared at each other, and something in the Kaidon's look made him feel uneasy.

"I see you have realized my true strength." the Kaidon said. He then holstered one of his own Katarns, and grabbed the harness with his free hand. He then, with one pull, ripped it all off, and held it like some sort of old whip. Fol grimaced, and he saw T'kan, also an invitee, did so as well. Those things were build of the same steel as that which was used in the hilts of Energy Swords. It was the toughest metal there was... and devastating if used as a whip, no matter if you wore armor.

"What are you now?" Six asked. "A Cyborg?"

The Kaidon laughed in a menacing tone. One that chilled Fol to the bone. He had heard it before, in people confident in their own victory. But the way the Kaidon did it... it scared him a bit.

"Not cyborg. A Cerberus unit. Unit 2.3.8." he answered. "Did you really think the miracles performed on me came without a cost?"

Six shook her head. "No. but I figured someone like you was more honorable."

That goad sure enraged his Father, and he ran at Six. In fact, he arrived in the blink of an eye, and she was forced on the defensive with his slashes. He was driving her to the wall of the arena, where she would have nowhere to go. And Six, too concentrated on surviving to see where he was driving her, went along with it. After her back hit the wall, a hit from the harness-whip hit her head. Immediately, her Visor was cracked badly. So badly, in fact, that he doubted she could even see with it. He also saw a red fluid come out of her helmet, likely blood. Next, he grabbed her right arm, temporarily dropping the harness. He then hit her arm with his deactivated Energy Sword, making it a very effective knuckle duster. Next, he grabbed both her arms, and flung her across the arena again. She hit the wall hard, to the point it even cracked, before she fell down on the ground again. She didn't get up.

The Kaidon, satisfied, stood higher, triumphantly.

"You see now, No one will get away with Challenging _me_!" he roared. "And if you do, Go on! Come down here!" he turned slightly, his back now to Six. And Six was starting to get up, shaking her head.

"Is there anyone else willing to come down here?" He continued on, oblivious to the fact Six was getting up.

Fol was about to ask him to look behind him, when Six coughed to clear her throat. Reghok whirled around like the devil himself possessed him, and he glared angrily at Six, not happy she hadn't gone down as easily. But, to Fol's surprise, he also chuckled.

"Back for more?" he asked. He stalked towards her, like a Thorn beast slowly moving in on unsuspecting prey.

But, to everyone's surprise, including those of Gray Team, as they looked among themselves,

Six laughed. But it was empty of amusement. Rather, it was like... he couldn't find the word for it, but like she realized her foe didn't know who she was or what she was capable of, and laughed at his ignorance. After she quieted down, she answered "In a way."

Then, to everyone's surprise, she removed her helmet, and dropped it to the ground.

Fol finally got a look at her face, as it was the first time he would actually see it. She was about in her middle twenties, and would have been a pretty face were it not for the large amount of scars. One even went up into her hairline, and the hair had slightly discolored in that part because of it.

It was, however, her eyes that drew his attention. Not the unusual colors, the orange and icy blue that slightly discomforted him, or the anger that one could clearly see in her eyes.

No, it was the nature of it, the look he gave Reghok. A memory clicked into Fol's head: His father explaining that a child had managed to get the drop on him, and that that child had oddly colored eyes. Also Orange and Blue, in this exact order.

 _Oh, boy._

To say this will turn bloody would have been a _great_ understatement. Now he understood Six' anger at the Kaidon. Reghok had told him that he had killed her family, and she wanted revenge. He also saw that she would not stop now. Not until the Kaidon was dead.

He moved to get up, but a hand stopped him.

It was Ooskoo's.

"Let her be. This is her fight." he said.

Fol shook his head. "Her Emotional judgement will be challenged. She'll do it for revenge, not for the planet."

"Reghok's judgement's impaired as well." Ooskoo retorted. "Besides, was this not what you wanted? For the tides to turn in favor of Humanity?"

Fol had no good response to that, so he shut up and sat back down on the edge of the seat.

Apparently, the Kaidon had recognized her as well, as they were trading far more vulgar insults. They then ran at each other, and he watched, as their blades met.

Void did his best to enhance Six' movements as she ran towards the Kaidon. He did everything he could think off. And yet, he recognized that something was holding her back. And there wasn't a thing he could do to stop it, short of breaking his promise about not accessing her memories while he was inside her head.

It was her anger holding her back. Sure, it allowed her to ignore the pain, and gave her a rush of adrenaline to use in the fight. But he knew of something that, while not providing as much adrenaline, would give her far more endurance. And, on top of that, her... _mood_ would turn into something positive instead of negative.

He considered what he wanted to do with what he'd promised. He didn't want to break his word, a trace of his old Donor, Alex Mercer. The man, while a paranoid conspiracy theorist, was honorable, and had done what he felt was right, even if he'd ended up dead. He didn't want to be dissimilar, despite his practices in bioweapon creation. And she had explicitly stated that she would terminate him if he broke his promise.

Six had made a step in her run, and she was only three more steps away from meeting the Kaidon's own charge.

But, his AI part, the part that was Void, told him to go and do it anyway. She needed the endurance, or she wouldn't last against Reghok for long. She needed what he had to offer. And besides, despite the invasion of her privacy, was it not the right thing to do?

Two more steps until the encounter with the Kaidon.

She would notice his intrusion the moment he would attempt it, so he knew he had to find his goal quickly, or risk distracting her and killing her anyway. He had to decide now.

To Hell with it.

He went into her mind, searching through recent memories, searching for the emotion in her he was looking for.

One more step until she would have to strike or duck. She was starting to notice the intrusion.

He knew that, in her far past, he would only find emotional pain, and so he didn't go looking there anyway. He decided to head for the subject he had often heard her talk about.

Her time with Noble and Blue Teams, and sought out the memories and emotions.

He immediately discarded the memories where someone died. He also dismissed those where they were in combat. In the latter, she would only find cold efficiency in her mind, and in the former, he would find an entirely different emotion than he needed. He was running out of-

 _There_! A discussion with Nobles 3 and 4, Jun and Emile respectively, about all the black ink in Six' files, and how she never divulged any of it. And here, her memories when she had covered Blue-04, Linda, when she was injured, and needed to recover from the Surgical operations that Six had performed on her. And there were dozens of other memories that, although tinted by pain, were fond ones: Opening up to Blue Team on Alpha base, Showing Sam her true face, the peace made between her and Fol, the time spent with the rest of Blue Team on the Gettysburg, the fact she got along well with the other members of Blue Team... there were dozens of memories, where they all had one emotion in common, even if she always had trouble either recognizing or accepting it.

Love. Not necessarily in a romantic way, but more like how she cared about her team members like she saw them- no, erase the last part. They were her Brothers and sisters.

And he enhanced it, at that exact moment she made the final step. And indeed, the pain began to slowly sleep in. But now, instead of anger being dominant in her mind, he saw that, instead, she did it with them in mind. No longer to satisfy her need for revenge, but for _them_. To ensure Sang'Katarn loyalty to humanity for _them_.

And, he realized now, for _him_.

"Thanks." he saw Six mouth from the camera of her helmet, to which he still had remote access.

Content, he saw that he could enhance her to the best of her potential, giving her a fair chance against the Kaidon. And he utilized all of it.

She'd need it.

Six sprinted towards the Kaidon with all of the speed she, and Void, could muster. And she found indeed, she got there a lot faster.

But, at the last moment, a mere step away from the collision she and the Kaidon were about to make, she felt Void become more active in her head, like he was trying to-

indeed, she felt his presence in her head now, searching her memory. She was about to criticize him for it, when something happened she never thought possible to this extent.

Happy. She started to feel happy, for once in her life, where she hadn't had a reason to for 17 years, since Jericho VII.

"thanks." she mouthed, as she knew Void could see it. With this, the endurance this gave, she could hold out longer, now that she had something to fight for.

As the Kaidon slashed at her with the whip, she skidded underneath it on her knees, before she got up and slashed at his back. And she noted that, while he had blocked it, he had been late in whirling around, surprised by the unexpectedness of her trick.

And then, she figured out the trick in fighting him: Stay on the move, and keep him spinning. He'll be slow to block it in time.

And so, as he turned around, and he attempted to cut her vertically in two with his Katarn, she quickly cartwheeled aside, evading his strike and having an opening near his side. She used it, and delivered a sideway kick to his head, unbalancing him despite his strength, and pushing him back. The first time in the engagement she'd actually gained ground. She used it, and swept at his legs with her own Katarn, her Energy Sword up to block if he tried to counter.

But he just jumped over it, and batted the Energy Sword aside, and out of her hand. He then kicked at her head, and she was again flown across the arena. But now, she managed to twist herself in midair so she landed on her feet.

The Kaidon, of course, immediately ran at her, his Katarn and whip behind him so they could swing forward on momentum, and cut her in two. She jumped back a bit, and blocked both slashes with her own Katarn at the same time.

But she knew she needed a new weapon, or at least take one away from the Kaidon. He was fast and strong, and obviously able to wield two ungainly weapons. And with her only having one blade, it was only a matter of time before he overwhelmed her.

Then she had an idea. The metal supports of the harness he was now using as a whip were indestructible, at least with the means she had at her own disposal at the moment. But the straps keeping them together...

She slashed at it as he came at her. And, as expected, it severed, and the broken harness flew across the arena behind her.

Neither she nor the Kaidon wasted time on speaking. Instead, he took on an enraged expression, and got out his other Katarn again. And he resumed his rampage.

And Six once again found herself on the defensive. Still, thanks to T'kan's lessons about not giving it all in one go, she managed to prevent herself from tiring out. But still, she knew she was slowly being driven back to the walls.

Then, to change things up, she rolled out of the way of a beheading move by the Kaidon, rolling between his legs, jumping back up in the hope of catching him off-guard by the swiftness of her assault.

But, again, he was quicker. He gave a kick backwards, and she was flung across the arena. Again, she hit that cracked wall, and fell to the ground.

She groaned a bit, as she had trouble breathing. She had likely cracked a rib, and the blood loss from the shrapnel piece, from her helmet, in her head was starting to make her dizzy. She had trouble even getting on her hands and knees, and she saw her Katarn had been flung from her hand during flight, landing at the doors a quarter of the circle away.

The Kaidon, confident in his victory, started stalking towards her again.

"Up for round three? Or will you die, like your Mother and Father?"

Before Six could form a reply, however, the crowd decided to intervene. They started to chant, starting with T'kan.

"Yat'hen Morg'zke." it started slowly, before the amount of people saying it made the volume rise automatically. "Yat'hen Morg'zke. Yat'hen Morg'zke! Yat'hen Morg'zke!"

The Kaidon turned at the crowd in anger. "Shut up, Mohkons!" he yelled. "Shut up! You have no authority here! Shut it!"

"Yat'hen Morg'zke! Yat'hen Morg'zke! Yat'hen Morg'zke!"

Six knew what that meant. It meant the entire council no longer believed he was fit to be Kaidon. It also meant, if one read between the lines, that they supported her. They actually believed she was fit to be Kaidon. Damn, they believed a mere human was worthy than the descendant of their founder.

On the other hand, she was a Spartan as well. No, they had seen her fight and make decisions, and believed she was fit to lead.

Damn.

She got to her feet, despite her dizziness. And then, she saw the Kaidon was still distracted, still trying to dissuade the three hundred who oppose him. The guards all looked nervously around themselves. Blast, even Gray Team was going along with the chant, likely aided by the AI from their prowler.

She walked over to him, clutching her side in pain. The Kaidon finally saw she was up again, and ran over to her.

She didn't attempt to dodge, nor to strike back. Instead, she just stood there, ready. Instead, she held her blade up, feinting she would impale him on his charge. The Kaidon adapted, and tried to bat it away.

Opening him up for a counter. As he arrived and tried to bat it aside, she deactivated her Katarn, and grabbed his arms. She then used his momentum to throw him over her, using her weight as leverage. He fell over her, and landing on his back. She jumped up, and pinned his right arm by stabbing her Katarn inside. To his credit, the Kaidon didn't scream or grit his teeth. But his eyes flashed in pain. Using his momentary hesitation because of it, she grabbed her combat knife and stabbed in his throat.

The Kaidon gasped, and looked like he was defeated, his feet slumping, and his back arched. But then, the Energy Gauntlet blade in his left wrist activated, and he stabbed up, hitting her in the shoulder. But Six, not to be robbed of victory now, stabbed deeper with her knife, and twisted it. The Kaidon started to gurgle a bit, his mouth filling with coughed up blood.

Taking the momentary advantage she had, she deactivated her Katarn and held it over his chest. Realizing the danger he was in, the Kaidon tried to grab her arm with his right, wounded hand. But Six was faster.

She activated the Katarn, and the Black Blade stabbed down into his chest, right into his heart. Six leaned on it, plunging the blade deeper, until it was hilt-deep.

His hands dropped, and he looked at her in rage.

Six smiled. "Regards from Thomas, Victoria and Ilsa Zane." she said.

The Kaidon glared at her, before he let out a final, painful breath. Then he dropped, and he stopped breathing.

Six got up, and pulled out the Katarn, holstering it. She also grabbed and sheathed her combat knife. She then, carefully, sat down again, tired as hell. She took a moment to mentally examine herself.

Head wound due to shrapnel from her damaged helmet. Arm broken, she saw now, instead of cut. Her Ribs broken. Her shoulder wounded, and likely broken at multiple places. Blood loss.  
And loss of anonymity.

Fol, T'kan and a little under three hundred had seen her face. She would have a bit of explaining to do once she reestablished contact with ONI. Still, the fact she got the killer of her family was well worth it. She looked at her helmet, miraculously only two inches away. They must have moved closer during the duel.

She moved over, and grabbed her helmet. She put it on. As soon as she did, a voice came across her com.

"Finally." Void said, relieved. "I was beginning to think you were going to take a rest."

Six just shook her head. "Ha-ha-ha."

Void then, surprisingly, chuckled. He then took on a serious tone. "So? What now?"

Six thought it over. She had defeated the Kaidon, and... she... had...

it dawned on her then. She took her helmet off, and looked around, at the audience. Everyone was standing, either a weapon raised or their fists brought to their opposite chests. Fol and T'kan did so as well. Even Gray team stood, although they were more relaxed.

The Commander of the Fleet, the Battlemaster, and the Intelligence Commander all stepped down, into the arena. Ooskoo, Fol, T'kan and Gray team followed.

"So, the Kaidon has fallen." T'kan said. "And now, you are still standing."

the others, including the councilors still seated, nodded as one. Then, Nera's Hologram, Kal and Ghanak all bowed.

Six looked around in confusion, which increased as she saw the others bow as well, with some even going on one knee.

Even Fol bowed, which puzzled her the most. She knew she had been told the reason they did this earlier, but her dizziness, resulting from the blood loss prevented her from thinking clearly and getting to the answer.

Then, Void provided the answer. "You defeated their Kaidon according to a traditional challenge to his power, even if for selfish reasons. And as a result of beating him fair and square, you are now his... successor."

Then, it dawned on Six. Back when she'd jumped into the arena, she had issued said challenge. Back then, it was in anger mostly, even if she knew she needed to do it to save humanity.

But now that she'd _actually_ won, she was at a loss for words. She had no idea what an ideal ruler would say.

But, in the end, T'kan helped her out. He rose. "And what are your orders, Kaidon of Sang'Katarn?" he asked. The others all rose. Six then calmed herself, and did as she usually worked with marine fireteams under her command: she took on a confident appearance, and spoke with a calm voice. It worked out well then, and she suspected it would work out well here and now.  
She turned to the Commander of the Fleet, Nera Katarn. "Commander, how many ships do we roughly have in our fleets?"

Nera's hologram stood straighter, in acknowledgement of the fact she was spoken to by her only superior. "36 SuperCarriers, 72 Assault Carriers, 101 Destroyers, 132 BattleCruisers, 201 Cruisers, 489 Corvettes and 12 Deployable Orbital Stations, Honored Kaidon."

Six nodded, calculating in her head. Not counting the actual firepower and durability of said ships, they had over a thousand ships. More than enough to replenish the losses suffered at Reach. And it would serve well to defend the planet.

She turned to the crowd. "You know that I value my people, and that I will do all I can for their defense. Hence, you will realize I will likely send a lot of ships there." the majority nodded, and she saw most look in concern.

"However." she halted. "I realize the Kaidon had some good points. Sang'Katarn and the planets in this star system aligned with her are the home of many of the soldiers I will send to Earth. They will want their planets defected." she paused. "Thus, a third of the Fleets will remain in this system, to guard our homes while we are away to fight alongside humanity."

many looked at her in surprise, likely expecting she would take all their fleets to Earth, and squander them all in her defense. They didn't expect that she would still leave some for the people to protect themselves with.

"I know I am not a politician, and I have no experience in actual ruling. But I promise you, for as long as I am Kaidon, I will do my best to serve both the needs of my own people" she paused. "As those of Earth." she saw most arch their eyebrows in surprise, likely expecting the statement to be reversed. But, as much as Six hated to admit it, she had a civilization behind her now. An army of excellent warriors at her beck and call.

Most that truly knew her, like Johnson, Wilson and Linda, would be running for bomb shelters if they knew this.

Fol, however, stepped forward, and kneeled in front of her. "You have served alongside me for only a short time." he started. "And you have even tried to kill me. And yet, with what you have done, you are a far better person than I'd ever expected. I will serve you, if you'll have my blade."

Six nodded, and he rose. "You have long fought against me. Time and again, you have attempted to kill me, and even taken the lives of my fellow soldiers. And yet, with the experiences on Halo, the Forerunner caves, and here, I find I respect you." she paused. "You are welcome, but you will not serve me."

Fol looked at her in suspicion. Six smirked. "In fact, none of you will serve me. None of you will fight _for_ me. But I would gladly fight alongside each of you."

Ooskoo, seeing her point, nodded. "We are our own power."

Six nodded. "Now, I suspect there will likely be a ceremony later on, but time is short."

Kal looked up in apprehension. "Earth."

Six nodded. "The Covenant have located the homeworld of my species. And tell me, fellow warriors: Will we let those arrogant religious bastards beat us there?"

some laughed at her choice of wording. But yet, the majority rose, all screaming negative answers to that.

"Will we let them exterminate the Human tenacity?"

this time, the answer rose as one, even from those with her in the arena. "No!"

"Will we let the Brutes have all the fun with them, or will we give them the fight of their lives?"

This time, the majority laughed, and Kal screamed. "The Brutes? Fun? Clearly, you don't know the species."

Six turned to him. "Oh, I know them, alright." she paused. "That's why I will join you all in this fight myself. As I said, I will not sit by while others fight my fights for me." she paused. "I will instead steal all the kills."

T'kan moved ahead of her, and lit his own blade. "Brothers and Sisters, enough talk. Who's up for Jiralhanae Hunting?"

Everyone raised their weapons or, in the San'Shyuum's case, raised their fists. Then, everyone started to file out. Six turned to Gray team. "Will you join us, or will you disappear again, to fight behind enemy lines."

Adriana stepped forward. "We'll draw attention elsewhere, if you don't mind." she paused. "I heard Doisac's nice this time of the year."

Six smiled, understanding what they wanted to do. "The Hidden Veil's yours, then. Good luck."

Jai stepped forward, and he shook her hand. "Same to you. Although I suspect we all make our own luck out here."

Six couldn't agree more. She saluted them, and they saluted back. And then, Gray team filed out as well.

Fol tapped her on the shoulder. "Come. You will need replacement for the damaged armor parts."

Six looked at him confused. "And, with Gray team gone, where do I find Mjolnir Armor?"

Fol smiled. "You recall that I killed Spartans in the past, right?"

Six nodded. Fol's smile grew larger. "Well, I admit I took their armor home as trophies. And some, I think, will fit you rather well."

Six followed him, as they were the last people to leave.

"Lead the way... Fol-of-himself."

Fol looked at her. "using the old insult from Halo against me? Really?"

Six smiled. "Since we're friends, we might as well give each other nicknames."

Fol looked ahead in thought. Then, she saw his right, scarred eye flash. "Alright... TIHF."

Six tried really hard to keep her poker face. But in the end, she started guffawing first. And then, Fol joined her as well.

 _Yep_. Six lamented. _The Hate's really gone._

* * *

 **And that was the last one. Next stop: Halo 3 (And the last one that will closely follow Halo-Canon). I hope, despite the shortness of it, that you all enjoyed this story, and that I'll see you all at the next step of the Journey.**

 **Even if it might take us to another Galaxy.**

 **I wonder if any of you will get it. Nicole is dead, after all.**

 **Until the next step.**

 **Gharst Omenlumin**


End file.
